Court in Georgievsk holds hearing on Makhachkala riots

A court hearing was held in Georgievsk on the case of five residents of Dagestan, whom investigators treat as participants in the riots that broke out at the Makhachkala Airport. At the request of the advocate of one of the defendants, the judge removed a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent from the courtroom.

In October, the Georgievsk City Court began considering the case of five residents of Dagestan (Rizvan Akhmedov, Ata Musaev, Magomed Mukhmaev, Khabib Sheikhov and Shanavaz Elmurzaev), accused of participating in the riots at the Makhachkala Airport.

In total, 27 criminal cases on the riots in Makhachkala against 129 defendants have been sent to the courts of the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories. On October 25, the Prosecutor's Office reported that seven cases against 37 defendants were already being heard by courts in the Stavropol Territory; two more cases with 14 defendants were being heard by courts in the Krasnodar Territory; and three organizers of the riots were announced as wanted.

The female judge has removed the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent from the hearing after Yana Filippovskaya, an advocate for Magomed Mukhmaev, had requested it. The advocate explained that the outlet was on the register of foreign agents. All the defendants, advocates and officials of the Prosecutor's Office supported the request.

Let us remind you that according to investigators, the above Akhmedov, Musaev, Mukhmaev, Sheikhov, and Elmurzaev, "on October 29, 2023, took part in mass riots accompanied by violence and property destruction."

On August 23, the Armavir City Court sentenced five defendants in the riot case to imprisonment for terms ranging from six years and four months to nine years. The advocates and convicts' relatives have stated that the court had handed down harsh sentences without any proofs of the defendants' guilt.