11:53, 1 March 2020

Dagestanis' defence divulges lie of secret witness

The Southern District Military Court. Photo by Konstantin Volgin for the "Caucasian Knot"

The secret witness, who testified in the case of four residents of Buynaksk, was able to identify only Ali Ramazanov among the defendants; he mixed up the names of others.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in September 2019, the inquiry into the case of four residents of Buynaksk – Samat Tatarkhanov, Daniyal Zagirov, Ramazan Zakaryaev and Ali Ramazanov – was completed. Their relatives claimed their innocence, and their defence demanded from investigators to show the video depicting the oath to the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court, in order to prove its staged nature.

All the four defendants refused from their testimonies, referring to their self-incrimination given under torture. The statement about the forced record of the oath to the IS is a unique phenomenon for Dagestan, the human rights defender and the advocate have noted.

The secret witness, Gennady Padalko, said that he knew all the defendants. According to his story, they "said that Dagestan has a wrong power, and Muslims are oppressed there."

"I understood that they were sick and tired of everything and decided to join the underground," Padalko said.

All the defendants stated that the secret witness' testimony was not true, and they do not agree with him.

Arsen Shabanov, an advocate, also believes that the secret witness' testimony was a lie. The defence believes the case was fabricated, he has added.

According to his version, the defendants have no 100 percent alibi, but "there are proofs" that indicate their non-involvement in crimes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 29, 2020 at 02:22 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Valery Lyugaev

Source: CK correspondent