Court considering Akhmedilov's murder case rules to summon two witnesses

The court that considers the murder case of the Dagestani journalist Abdulmalik Akhmedilov has read out testimonies of three prosecution witnesses, extended the arrest of the defendants by two months, and ruled to force two witnesses to the next session scheduled on February 17, said one of the advocates.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Abdulmalik Akhmedilov, the editor-in-chief of the "Sogratl" newspaper and the executive secretary of the newspaper "Istina" (Truth), was killed in August 2009. The charge was brought against Murad Shuaibov and Isa Abdurakhmanov; both refused to plead guilty. On March 30, 2015 the court passed a guilty verdict, which was cancelled by the Supreme Court (SC) of Dagestan. On September 2, 2015, the Leninsky District Court of Makhachkala began reconsidering the case.

The court session took place on February 8. The court extended the detention of the above two defendants by two months, said the spokesperson of the Court.

At the February 8 session, the court read out testimonies of three prosecution witnesses, said Rustam Yunusov, the advocate for Shuaibov.

"The essence of the testimonies was the confirmation of the fact of the crime itself. That is, the witnesses said they saw the lying dead Akhmedilov's body, and that some cars were nearby. However, nothing was evidenced, even indirectly, about the involvement of the defendants in the crime," said Yunusov.

According to his story, the next session plans to question the two witnesses, involved in investigative activities at Shuaibov's detention. The advocate has added that he treats the detention of his client itself as "very suspicious".

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