Defence of Ingush activists points to ignored proofs of their innocence

The first-instance court has refused to take into account the contradictions in the prosecution's version, ignored the videos and other proofs that confirms the Ingush oppositionists' innocence; as a result of which the court made false conclusions, Magomed Abubakarov, one of the advocates, has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that since January 13, 2023, a court in the Stavropol Territory has been considering complaints against the verdicts passed to seven Magas protest leaders. The defence has repeatedly asked the court to examine the evidence in the case, but this was not done; many points in the verdicts are doubtful, Mr Abubakarov has noted. On July 13, he stressed that testimonies of secret witnesses, which formed the basis for the verdicts, contradicted the testimonies of MPs and high-ranking law enforcers. The latter stressed that the defendants tried to prevent violence at that rally held in March 2019 in Magas.

On July 14, Abubakarov analyzed the proofs presented by the defence. He noted that the video from the rally and the protocol of analyzing the video, which were treated as the proof of the guilt of Akhmed Barakhoev, were not really such.

The advocate has pointed out the contradictory conclusions of the court. Thus, for the first-instance judge, the fact that investigators and the prosecution failed to establish the date and circumstances of the creation of the extremist community did not become an obstacle for establishing the defendants' guilt.

The guilty verdict was handed down, although there is not a single proof of the defendants' guilt in the case, the advocate, Magomed Abubakarov, has concluded.

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