Trenina: defence of figurant in Politkovskaya's murder case to insist on trial by jury

Rustam Makhmudov, a native of Chechnya, accused of killing the observer of the "Novaya Gazeta" Anna Politkovskaya, refuses to plead guilty. His defence will apply for a trial by jury, said Darya Trenina, his advocate.

According to her story, Makhmudov does not plead guilty on all the items of the charge; and he has never done it on any of the indicted episodes. "The case files have no Rustam Makhmudov confessions of committing the incriminating acts," Darya Trenina has explained. However, as she added, the defence has not yet begun studying the case files.

"After being kept in dungeon, Makhmudov has health problems and aggravation of diseases"

Today, the Moscow City Court has considered the appeal of the defence against the statement passed on August 28, which extended Makhmudov's custody till November 30.

According to Ms Trenina, the appeal complaint against the above decision of the Moscow City Court was caused by the fact that her client has health problems. She added that Makhmudov is kept at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) "Matrosskaya Tishina".

"His health has deteriorated, and his diseases have aggravated, since he was kept for several months in a dungeon for an alleged breach of public order: he refused to clean up the cell after all his cellmates, not after himself only," said the advocate.

According to her story, now her client "feels pain in his waist and stomach and needs medical care."

Prior to consideration of the complaint the defendant asked the court to give him 5-7 minutes to talk to his advocate Darya Trenina, because he did not know about the court session and was not familiar with the complaint. The court provided them with the right to coordinate their positions before the trial.

"Makhmudov does not suffer from serious illnesses, which excludes the issue of mitigating his freedom restraint"

In the course of the consideration of the complaint, the defence asked the court to cancel the decision of extending his custody and release Makhmudov. "The investigatory actions that were specified by investigators as the reason for extension of Makhmudov's custody are not exceptional circumstances for keeping my client in jail. During his arrest he did not resist and was not hiding from the investigation, so there are no grounds to further keep him in SIZO," said the lawyer Darya Trenina.

In his turn, the investigator Dmitry Maibusov asked the court not to change and soften the measure of freedom restraint. "The defendant is accused of committing an especially serious crime, incurring the penalty of more than two years in prison. I remind you that while wanted Makhmudov had used forged documents to the names of two other persons. If he is at large, he could escape or influence the witnesses. Makhmudov has no severe illnesses, which allows not raising the issue of softening his freedom restraint," the investigator justified his position.

The prosecutor Vyacheslav Smirnov has also treated the decision of the Moscow City Court as lawful and justified.

According to his version, the defendant is accused of a crime committed by an organized group of six persons; and the case is particularly complex and has a great public resonance, which, in Mr Smirnov's opinion, also supports the position of the investigation about the need to keep Makhmudov in the SIZO.

After hearing the arguments of the parties, the panel of judges of the Moscow City Court dismissed the appeal lodged by Makhmudov's defence and found rightful to extend the custody till November 30.