SC approves Ruslan Rakhaev's conviction

Today, the Supreme Court (SC) of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) has announced its decision on the appeal complaint lodged by Ruslan Rakhaev, the deputy head of the Department for Cherkessk of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), who was found guilty of beating up a detainee to death. The SC has reduced Rakhaev's prison term by three months. His defence has announced its intention to file a cassation against the verdict.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 15, the Cherkessk City Court considered, for the third time, the case of Ruslan Rakhaev and found him guilty of beating the detainee to death. The City Court sentenced Rakhaev to 9 years in a high-security colony with the deprivation of his rank of a police captain, and also ruled to collect a compensation for moral harm from him in favour of the victims in the amount of one million roubles.

Today, the KChR's SC has announced its decision on the appeal complaint against the verdict passed by the Cherkessk City Court to Rakhaev.

The panel of judges of the SC has reduced his prison term down to eight years and nine months, returned the presidential award "For the Defence of Nalchik in 2005", the title of a police captain, and lifted the ban on continuing his service in interior bodies after serving the sentence, Lydia Zhabelova, Rakhaev's public defender, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

She has added that the defence intends to appeal the verdict by means of cassation.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 12, 2018 at 09:10 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.