Ecologist Valery Brinikh again waives advocate appointed by court

The Maikop City Court has refused to consider the motion filed by ecologist Valery Brinikh to waive a public advocate.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Valery Brinikh is accused of distributing an extremist material on the Internet: his article "The Silence of the Lambs" was recognized an extremist material. The article is devoted to the problems of environmental pollution in Adygea by a local commercial pig unit.

On May 11, the ecologist appealed to the President of the Bar Association of Adygea with the request to oblige advocates appointed by the Maikop City Court to refuse to participate in the trial as his defenders.

The prosecution witnesses Vladimir Isaenko, a system administrator of the website "ZaKrasnodar!", and Potapov, the editor-in-chief of the same website, have once again failed to appear at the today's court session. Court marshals have explained their failure to appear at the court by their "inability to fulfil the court order because of the absence at the places of residence."

Advocate Alexander Popkov has explained the need to grant the motion of Valery Brinikh by violation of his constitutional rights. The advocate has also noted that he "does not intend to file a complaint about the judge's actions."

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