15 August 2018, 21:41
MIA expert tells the court about seizure of marijuana from Titiev
Ismail Demelkhanov, an expert, told the court how he participated in the seizure of marijuana from Oyub Titiev's car, but could not comment on any other circumstances of his detention.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Oyub Titiev's trial is underway since July 19 at the Shali City Court.
Oyub Titiev, the head of the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", is under arrest since January 11 on charges of possessing marijuana. He insists that the drug had been planted on him by a law enforcer.
The today's session began with the questioning of expert Ismail Demelkhanov.
He told the court that on January 9 he went to the detention place of Oyub Titiev after he learned about the detection of some herbal substance in his car. Together with the investigator, he examined the scene of the incident, compiled a photo table, took a picture of the car and the package that was found in the car by law enforcers, and of the substance in the package and of the one scattered on the rug, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has reported today.
According to Demelkhanov, he carried out all these actions together with the investigator in the presence of witnesses, who signed the protocol; however, Titiev refused to sign it. The witness explained that Titiev's personal search was not carried out at the scene, and he could not say whether this inspection was undertaken later. Demelkhanov has noted that he had not seen Titiev's documents and weapons, since nothing was taken away from Titiev in Demelkhanov's presence, except for the substance found in the car.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 15, 2018 at 07:26 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
