18 September 2013, 00:52
At trial on Anna Politkovskaya's murder, Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov's wife refuses to testify
At the trial on the case of the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya held at the Moscow City Court, Oksana, the wife of Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who was sentenced in a special manner, refused to testify. The jury considered her testimony given during the preliminary investigation. This was reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
The wife of Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov was summoned by prosecutors for questioning as part of obtaining evidence against the defendants. However, she took the right given by Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation not to testify against oneself or close relatives.
After the court session held on September 17, advocates of the defendants complained that the wife of Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov took the right given by Article 51 of the Constitution not to answer the questions of the defence.
"Article 51 of the Constitution provides that a witness may refuse to testify against oneself, one's spouse and close relatives. The Article contains no indication that a witness has an immunity to testify against others; however, today, the witness did not answer a single question," advocate Murad Musaev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
The next court session is scheduled for September 18.
Author: Yulia Buslavskaya Source: CK correspondent
