The defendants in the Kardashov murder case refused to answer questions from the victim's side.
At the next court session in Gudermes, former law enforcement officers Kalogi Aziev and Alihan Yusupov, accused in the murder case of Alexey Kardashov, presented their version of his detention. Both defendants refused to answer questions from representatives of the victim's side.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on February 24, the Gudermes court began hearing the criminal case against former drug police officers Kalogi Aziev and Alihan Yusupov, accused of illegally transporting Alexey Kardashov from Dagestan to Chechnya, conducting a personal search and searching Kardashov's vehicle in the fall of 2017. Both admitted their guilt. At the previous session, a witness in the case, Aslan Dukayev, told the court that he remembers nothing.
Alexey Kardashov, who owned a pharmacy in Khasavyurt, left home on September 14, 2017, and did not return; his body has not yet been found. Investigators believe that Rosgvardiya officers Bekhan Abdurashidov and Aslan Dukayev took Kardashov to Chechnya and left him with Said-Magomed Omarov, who killed Kardashov during a quarrel. The basis for the prosecution of Abdurashidov and Dukayev was Omarov's testimony, which he gave when the investigation was conducted in Dagestan. After the case was transferred to Chechnya, he signed a confession. In 2023, the court found Omarov guilty of Kardashov's murder and sentenced him to eight years and two months in prison. The mother of the murdered man stated that Omarov participated in the abduction of her son but not in the murder. She pointed out that Omarov's sentence would allow the murderers to evade responsibility.
On July 14, a hearing took place in the Gudermes court regarding the case of former drug police officers Kalogi Aziev and Alihan Yusupov.
"The defendants attend all sessions. They admit guilt in the illegal detention of Kardashov, but refused to testify and answer questions from the victim's side," reported a correspondent for "Caucasian Knot" from the human rights project "Team Against Torture".
The prosecutor announced the testimonies of Aziev and Yusupov, which they provided during the preliminary investigation; both defendants supported them, he continued. "These testimonies outline their version of the illegal detention. The bailiffs could not find witnesses Akaychikov and Aliev at the addresses provided. Their testimonies were announced by the prosecutor," said a member of the "Team Against Torture".
The court has not yet considered the victim's side's petition to return the case to the prosecutor. The defendants' lawyer, like the defendants themselves, did not ask the court to consider the case in a special manner, he clarified.
"Omarov is a witness for the prosecution in the case. In court, he referred to a poor memory. His testimony, in which he confesses to the murder of Kardashov, was announced. The victim's side's petition to announce Omarov's initial testimony, which contradicted the essence of the case, was rejected by the court on the grounds that Omarov refuses to acknowledge them," explained a member of the human rights project.
It should be noted that in the summer of 2023, the Gudermes City Court of Chechnya found former Rosgvardiya employees Bekhan Abdurashidov and Aslan Dukayev guilty of the illegal detention of Alexey Kardashov. They were sentenced to two years probation for exceeding their official powers. This sentence was overturned on appeal, and in June 2024, the Sheikh-Mansurovsky court terminated the case against Abdurashidov and Dukayev due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution.
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