Kardashov's mother considers Omarov a "scapegoat."

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The defendant in the murder case of Dagestani resident Alexey Kardashov, Grozny resident Said-Magomed Omarov, refuses to provide any significant information in court, stating only that he is tired and remembers nothing. Kardashov's mother believes that Omarov is being tried as a "scapegoat.".

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", the Supreme Court of Chechnya in November 2024 refused to satisfy the appeal against the sentence of Grozny resident Said-Magomed Omarov, convicted in the murder case of Dagestani resident Alexey Kardashov. In 2023, the Nozhai-Yurt District Court found Said-Magomed Omarov guilty of murdering Dagestani pharmacist Alexey Kardashov and sentenced him to eight years and two months in a strict regime colony. Prior to that, in 2020, the court sentenced Omarov to nine years in a colony for the murder of Kardashov and the theft of his car. This sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court of Chechnya. The mother of the murdered stated that Said-Magomed Omarov participated in the abduction of her son, but not in the murder. The sentence for Omarov will allow the murderers to evade responsibility, she pointed out. At the court session on July 31, Omarov refused to testify, citing the Constitution.

Omarov's position has not fundamentally changed compared to the previous trial in his case, a representative of the "Team Against Torture" reported to the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" on August 14.

He does not provide any significant information.

"Omarov answers the questions of the victims' representatives with phrases like: 'I remember nothing', 'Leave me alone', 'I've been in pre-trial detention for 8 years', 'I'm already tired'. In general, to characterize his behavior, he does not provide any significant information, answering monosyllabically: 'yes, no, I don't remember, I invoke Article 51'," he said.

The prosecutor finished presenting written evidence at the court session, the representative of the KP* also reported. "The representative of the victim stated the announcement of a number of written evidences that are in the materials of the criminal case and are significant for the consideration of this criminal case. The court accepted these evidences, and they began to be announced," he added.

In general, the representatives of the victims in all cases are seeking to return the case to the prosecutor. "They believe that all actions committed against Kardashov should be investigated within the framework of one criminal case, and will, among other things, request that the cases be returned to the prosecutor in the territory of the Republic of Dagestan," the KP* clarified.

The cassation appeal against the ruling of the Sheikh-Mansurov District Court in the Fifth Cassation Court in Pyatigorsk will be considered on August 25 in the case of Abdurashidov and Dukayev.

All this information will, of course, be reflected, and we will see what the court's verdict will be in the murder case.

According to the representative of the KP*, as evidence, the investigation into the murder ignores the data on the detailing of phone connections of law enforcement representatives, Omarov's testimony as a witness, and a number of other evidences. "Including the testimony of Omarov's wife, which states that he came home beaten in September 2017. All this information will, of course, be reflected, and we will see what the court's verdict will be in the murder case. And in the case against Aziyev and Yusupov, a break has currently been announced until September 10 due to the judge being on annual leave. They have also reached the stage of studying written evidence," he reported.

Kardashov's mother Tsilya Yakubova believes that the court is trying to draw a "final line" by simply convicting Omarov as a "scapegoat."

"A number of law enforcement officers have already been released from responsibility. And the fact that the investigation has singled out this murder case against Omarov into a separate proceeding, the court indeed considers the episodes as different events. I don't even know how they consider them and whether they consider them at all. All this is conducted formally, all these sessions, and judging by how they have all concocted this, they want it to be separate. As if not connected to each other," she said.

Human rights defender, familiar with the situation in Chechnya and Dagestan, commenting on the existing practice in Dagestan and Chechnya, where abduction is requalified as illegal deprivation of liberty or abuse of power in order to write off the statute of limitations, stated that he is not sure that this practice is very widespread.

There have been many cases where irrefutable evidence of the involvement of law enforcement agencies in abductions was provided to investigative bodies and even to the court, but all this was ignored.

"Although there have been many cases where irrefutable evidence of the involvement of law enforcement agencies in abductions was provided to investigative bodies and even to the court, all this was ignored. For example, the abduction and disappearance of Yasin Khalidov, after his detention at a border checkpoint in Omsk, he was handed over to police from the Chechen Republic. And the Investigative Committee claims that he left home and did not return," he told the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".

The human rights defender could not recall examples in the judicial practice of Chechnya over the past 10 years where in high-profile cases of disappearances of people (especially involving law enforcement agencies) it was possible to achieve convictions specifically for the organizers. "In the case of Kardashov's murder, if I'm not mistaken, they accused completely unrelated people and then seemed to acquit them, although in fact Kardashov was abducted by police officers from the Chechen Republic," he pointed out.

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