Martin Kochesoko refuses to plead guilty in court

Today, in Kabardino-Balkaria, the court has started the consideration of the case against Circassian activist Martin Kochesoko. In contradiction to his confession signed after the detention, the activist has pleaded not guilty.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Martin Kochesoko, the head of the public organization "Khabze", was detained in Nalchik on June 7, 2019. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reported that the activist pleaded guilty to purchasing and storing drugs on a large scale.

Today, the Urvan District Court has held the first hearing in the case against Martin Kochesoko.

A public prosecutor read out the indictment, according to which in November 2018, Martin Kochesoko collected wild hemp in the vicinity of the Urukh village, hid it at a place nearby, and six months later, in June 2019, came to take out the drug. On the way, he was stopped by policemen who seized the narcotic substance. When the judge asked the activist whether he pleaded guilty, Martin Kochesoko replied that he did not.

Earlier, on July 27, the "Meduza" made public an interview with Martin Kochesoko. In his interview, the activist said that he feared for his life during the detention and agreed to fulfil the law enforcers' demands: he admitted that he was transporting drugs, learned and repeated on a video camera a story of how he was hiding the drug in the Urukh village, and signed a document on cooperation with the investigation.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 17, 2020 at 03:27 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.