L. Dorogova: refusal to give out bodies of the militants perished on October 13, 2005, aggravates the situation in Kabardino-Balkaria

Advocate Larissa Dorogova, a Bar member of Kabardino-Balkaria, who is representing the interests of the relatives of those perished during the events of October 13, 2005, in Nalchik, gave her comments in an interview to the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" on the situation with the decision on the "issue of giving out of the bodies."

In her words, nothing has changed in the matter despite the fact that parents' pickets at the building of the Republic's Office of Public Prosecutor continue to the present day. "For several times, we have addressed the Office asking to tell us about the condition of the bodies and who is in charge of preserving them. The investigatory group has answered, but not to the questions asked - as though they have not heard them, by quoting the statement, according to which "the bodies of terrorists are not given out, and the place of their burial is not disclosed." The parents have regarded this sort of answer as mockery," the lawyer has stated.

Court judgements on admission of parents of October 13 casualties as representatives at court were ambiguous, Ms. Dorogova asserts. "Basically, the decisions were to reject admission. Except for several decisions cancelled later by the Supreme Court. Also complaints were rejected on the actions of the investigatory group who refused to issue statements on initiation of criminal cases on the facts of deaths, though under the law any fact of murder shall entail either initiation of a criminal case or a refusal to initiate such. The relatives were not given any procedural documents and examinations' conclusions."

"Currently, we appeal against the decisions to stop criminal prosecution in relation to the victims on the ground that when making them the judges breached the norms of the procedural law and the basic principles of criminal legal proceedings - the principle of presumption of innocence, defence participation and the adversarial principle. The victims have been actually found guilty without a trial, although their relatives challenge qualification of the events of October 13, 2005, even if they had participated in the attack."

The lawyer is also disturbed by the fact that the problems that led to the events on October 13, 2005, have never been eliminated. None of the encroachments on the rights of Moslem believers, not a single fact of beating them have been investigated; they were given no legal estimate.