Trial outcomes of riots at Makhachkala Airport disappoints the defence

The harsh sentence for five Dagestanis accused within the case of riots at the Makhachkala Airport will be appealed against; the defence claims absence of proofs of their guilt.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Armavir City Court had sentenced the defendants in the riots case Anvarbek Ataev, Islam Ibragimov, Magomed Omaraskhabov, Rabadan Radjabov and Salik Ramazanov to prison terms ranging from six years and four months to nine years. The court issued a harsh sentence without proofs of their guilt, the convicts' advocates and relatives assert. The defence has appealed against the verdicts, but on November 25, the appellate court upheld them.

After the ruling of the Krasnodar Territorial Court to uphold the verdicts passed by the Armavir City Court, the chances for appeal have not been exhausted, said Laila Ubaidulaeva, an advocate.

"If the verdicts are upheld again, we'll appeal to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation," she said.

The refusal to satisfy the appeals against the verdicts is a sign that the system is tuned to harsh sentences in this case, Shamil Khadulaev, the chairman of the Dagestan Public Oversight Commission (POC), believes.

"They could have softened them, but they didn't. All this is very embittering to the society ... These verdicts are actually ruining these guys' lives. The prison terms are very long. For committing a murder, people sometimes serve less than a year in jail, and for participating in protests they appoint such long terms," he has stated.

Patimat, the mother of Rabadan Radjabov, saw her son a year ago. According to her story, he suffers a lot for being the victim of false testimonies.

A parent of one of the convicts said that the guys were offered to sign a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and go to the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine.

"Where is the logic of the state? The case says that they went out against the state; and now the state is offering them a contract," the parent was bewildered, adding that parents of all the convicts are against this offer.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 28, 2024 at 04:31 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.