Chechen advocate Timur Idalov sentenced to forced labour

The Khimki City Court (Moscow Region) has sentenced Timur Idalov, a Chechen advocate, to one year and 11 months of forced labour within a case of threats to a prosecutor. He was also banned from practicing advocacy for three years, the human rights project "OVD-Info"* has informed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 31, it became known that Idalov, accused for his threats addressed to the prosecutor, had been detained in Grozny. His defence believes that there are a number of violations in his case and is preparing a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee.

Timur Idalov was detained on suspicion of threatening the prosecutor with violence during a court hearing. On July 5, 2023, it became known that the charge was re-qualified into a threat to kill or cause harm. Murad Musaev, an advocate, has treated the charge as "far-fetched", stating that Idalov had an altercation with the prosecutor and that six months later Idalov's remark was classified as a threat.

In his last plea, Timur Idalov pointed out that even the prosecutor herself, whom Idalov was accused of threatening, admitted that he had not threatened to do anything to her, the "Mediazona"** has informed.

Let us remind you that Timur Idalov, as an advocate, represented the interests of the Belkharoevs in the murder case of Ibragim Eldjarkiev, the head of the Ingush Centre "E". In 2021, Mustafa Belkharoev, the head of the Ingush Accounts Chamber, complained that after the detention of his son Alikhan within the case of the murder of the head of the regional "E" Centre, he was subjected to brutal torture. Alikhan Belkharoev himself also reported torture.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

**On September 29, 2021, the Ministry of Justice of Russia included the LLC "ZP" (the legal entity that had established the "Mediazona") into the list of media outlets-foreign agents.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 27, 2024 at 10:49 зm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.