A lawyer and human rights activist pointed out an investigative error in the case of blogger Magomeddibirov.

Astrakhan investigators ignored the fact that the opponent of Dagestani blogger Magomeddibir Magomeddibirov struck first during a road rage incident. From a legal perspective, this is a key moment in determining the culprit of the fight, noted the lawyer and human rights activist.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on June 10, it became known that Dagestani blogger Magomeddibir Magomeddibirov has declared a hunger strike in the Astrakhan pretrial detention center, where he has been held for about six months following a road conflict.

Magomeddibir Magomeddibirov ended his hunger strike in pretrial detention, his father, Saad Magomeddibirov, reported. "On the third or fourth day, he became ill and couldn't speak. His lawyer visited him and said he was exhausted. I forbade him from continuing. The pretrial detention center administration and investigators simply ignored him. It was as if nothing was happening. And doctors weren't monitoring him. That's why it was decided to end the hunger strike," the blogger's father explained to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Magomeddibir Magomeddibirov's detention in pretrial detention is a violation of his rights, he believes. "He was born in Astrakhan, graduated from high school and university here, has a family, and runs a business. He has a place to live – our shared house, and he has his own apartment. But the court refuses to change the preventive measure," said Saad Magomeddibirov.

The opponent in the fight with his son filed a counterclaim only after he was informed that Magomeddibirov had reported him for the attack. The blogger himself posted a video of the fight. "This video is what blew this case up," explained Saad Magomeddibirov.

The investigation charges the blogger with hooliganism committed by a group of individuals. However, the video shows that Magomeddibirov's brothers were not involved, nor was his mother, Saad Magomeddibirov continued. "They're not being charged because there's no reason to. So who are these 'unknown persons'? The incident wasn't even close to hooliganism <…>. Moreover, the coach only discovered a concussion three days after the incident and got a medical certificate," the blogger's father said.

The judge's ruling on the selection or extension of pretrial detention, as well as all actions and inactions of the investigative bodies and the court, have been appealed, said Magomeddibir Magomeddibirov's lawyer, Omar Khulatayev.

"But we're being turned down everywhere. Today is the prosecutor's last day to make a decision on the criminal case received by him, and the prosecutor's office must approve the indictment or return the case to the investigator. But information on the case will only be known in a couple of days," he explained to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The investigation is looking at the totality of the circumstances. Timofey Shirokov, a lawyer not associated with the Magomeddibirov case, explained who is to blame for the fight based on factors, consequences, and eyewitness testimony.

"Who struck first is the key point. This is important. If the coach struck first, then there are grounds for reclassifying the case. But this is a very difficult situation, which demonstrates the flawed work of the investigation. And, of course, they will resist with all their might and prove that they did everything correctly, but from a formal point of view, it is a strong point if the first blow was recorded," the lawyer told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The investigation is ignoring an important point in the Magomeddibirov case, which is that his opponent struck first, and he thereby provoked the fight, noted Shamil, Chairman of the Public Monitoring Commission (PMC) of Dagestan. Khadulaev.

"Magomeddibirov was the first to even file a complaint about the attack. He says he did it because his opponent started intimidating him, saying he could be locked up. A little later, they found a camera that showed the coach hitting him first. The footage is in the investigation file. This changes the situation. But what should the investigators do now? They locked the guy up, and it turns out the coach hit him first," Khadulaev told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Caucasian Knot" does not yet have a comment from Astrakhan handball club "Dynamo" coach Georgy Zaikin, with whom Magomeddibirov had a fight. However, Zaikin previously gave a comment to RIA Novosti. In it, he noted that the conflict was caused by the aggressive driving of the BMW driver. "He was previously arrested for shooting, drifting, and hooliganism in Astrakhan in this same car," the news agency quoted Zaikin as saying.

The conflict occurred in the evening when Zaikin was returning from training. The coach said the BMW driver cut him off while overtaking, causing Zaikin's car to veer off the road and be damaged. According to Zaikin, the BMW driver then began to break down the coach's car door and threaten to kill him.

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