19 March 2019, 07:31
Brother treats sentence to Oyub Titiev as cruel
The trial of Oyub Titiev was a great stress for the family, Yakub, a brother of the head of the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial", has stated. Yakub told about the pressure at the start of the trial.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the court sentenced Titiev to four years in colony, having found him guilty of possessing narcotic drugs. All the testimonies of the defence witnesses were found insignificant.
Oyub Titiev insists that drugs were planted on him. The HRC "Memorial" presented 10 facts testifying that the criminal case was falsified.
Yakub Titiev, Oyub's brother, believes, however, that the sentence could have been even harsher. "If there was no such attention of diplomats, and no such support of journalists and rights defenders, I think that the trial would have ended long ago. All the support has caused a great resonance," Yakub has stated.
The court has passed a softer verdict to Oyub than the prosecution demanded; it happened thanks to the public campaigns in his support, said Oleg Orlov, the head of the "Hot Spots" programme at the HRC "Memorial". The prosecution had requested four years of imprisonment with a fine of 100,000 roubles.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 18, 2019 at 11:44 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: CK correspondent
