Krasnodar Territorial Court refuses to release Khaiser Djemilev from custody

The Krasnodar Court has dismissed the appeal filed by an advocate of Khaiser Djemilev about the decision to extend the period of detention of his client. The Court has also formed a jury.

Khaiser Djemilev is accused of the murder of hooliganism. According to investigators, on May 27, 2013, he shot and killed 44-year-old Fevzi Edemov form a gun of his father Mustafa Djemilev, the former head of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 3, the judge extended the detention of Khaiser Djemilev until June 11, 2015. The defence has appealed against the decision.

According to defender Nikolai Polozov, Khaiser Djemilev has been kept in detention for almost two years starting from May 2013. The defence believes the defendant could release on recognizance not to leave or on bail. Family members of Khaiser Djemilev hoped that the appeal board of the Krasnodar Regional Court would announce the decision to release him until sentencing.

According to the advocate, today, the Regional Court has formed a jury. The defence has issued a statement about the biased nature of the jurors' opinion. According to Nikolai Polozov, "the jurors' opinion about the acts committed by the defendant could be affected by the biased presentation of information by some regional mass media."

It should be noted that earlier, the advocate has stated that the detention of Khaiser Djemilev, a citizen of Ukraine, at the Krasnodar SIZO (pre-trial prison) and the consideration of the case by the Russian investigating and judicial authorities violate his rights.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.