Rights defender Igor Nagavkin released from SIZO

Igor Nagavkin, a human rights defender, whom the Volgograd Regional Court decided to release from custody, has left the territory of the SIZO (pre-trial prison) and went home to the town of Kalach-on-Don, stating that he would seek full rehabilitation.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the court ruled to release Nagavkin from further punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. This ruling is due to the fact that the judicial system would not admit its mistakes, Yulia Evdokimova, a human rights defender, has explained.

"I will strive for complete rehabilitation. The regional court, when reviewing the case, again ignored our main arguments about the falsification of the case ... The items (jewellery) that figured in the case and for which we were sentenced to six years in jail each don't belong to the victim at all; the examination failed to reveal the actual damage caused," Igor Nagavkin has stated.

He is sceptical about the expected trial in the case of disorganizing the work of the SIZO (another case initiated against Nagavkin).

"This is Igor's first victory. He still has to go through the trial at the district court in his second case (disorganizing SIZO work)," Valentin Bogdan, the executive director of the Fund for the Defence of Prisoners' Rights, has noted.

"All the harm caused to Nagavkin by the illegal criminal prosecution and unfair justice should have been compensated by the state in full ... But for this, the sentence should be overturned by the judiciary, but this hasn't happen," Sergey Ivaschenko, a lawyer, has added.