Rights defender comments on court ruling to release Nagavkin

The court ruling to release Igor Nagavkin, a Volgograd human rights defender, from custody is due to the fact that the judicial system would not admit its mistakes, Yulia Evdokimova, a lawyer and human rights defender, has explained.

In court, Nagavkin and Valery Shukhardin, his advocate, repeated that he refused to plead guilty and pointed to numerous violations of his right to defence and stated signs of falsification in investigators' work and violations of the law by the judge of the Bykovsky District Court.

The advocate has noted that within the second case, in which Nagavkin was accused of disorganizing the work of the SIZO (pre-trial prison) in May 2023, a freedom restriction measure has not yet been chosen.

As a result, the chairman of the judicial panel decided to reduce the punishment from grave to moderate and release Nagavkin due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

The statute of limitations for crimes of medium gravity is six years; and this statute on the charges brought against Nagavkin has expired; therefore, his verdict should be overturned, Yulia Evdokimova, a lawyer and human rights defender, has stated.

The proposal from the prosecutor's office was made purely in order to avoid subsequent expenses and liability that the reversal of the verdict would entail, Ms Evdokimova believes. In her opinion, there are signs of repressions in the Nagavkin's case. He has been involved in human rights activities for many years, she has added.

"Now, repressions against human rights defenders are only intensifying. More and more criminal cases are being initiated against the advocates who defend their clients' rights," Yulia Evdokimova has concluded.