18 July 2024, 19:45
Rights defenders doubt any advocate Idalov's chances to hide from investigators in Chechnya
After leaving Moscow for Chechnya, Timur Idalov, a Chechen advocate, accused within the case of threats to the prosecutor and put on the wanted list, is unlikely to hide from investigators in Chechnya, like those involved in the Nemtsov murder case, lawyers and human rights defenders have suggested.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that for violating a preventive measure in the form of a ban on certain actions, a court in Moscow decided to arrest Timur Idalov. Due to the fact that law enforcers failed to deliver him to the SIZO (pre-trial prison), he was put on the wanted list.
Timur Idalov was arrested on suspicion of threatening a prosecutor with violence during a court session. Later, the charge was reclassified into a threat to kill or cause harm to the prosecutor. Murad Musaev, an advocate, has treated the charge as “made up from thin air.” “Who are you, Commissar Cattani [the character of the Italian TV serial about mafia]? That’s how they shot him dead,” Timur Musaev quoted Idalov’s words addressed to the prosecutor.
Timofei Shirokov, another advocate, has doubted the correctness of investigators’ treatment of Idalov’s words. “I see no extremism here. At most, the charge can be under the article of threat of violence or insulting a state official,” he has explained.
Svetlana Gannushkina*, the chair of the "Civic Assistance" Committee*, doubts that Idalov’s words should be interpreted as extremism. “Comparisons with literary or film and TV characters can't be treated as extremism,” she has noted.
In Chechnya, only those can hide from investigators, who have ties at the highest level and in whom the Kremlin is not directly interested in extraditing, Timofei Shirokov believes.
Ruslan Kutaev, the President of the Assembly of Caucasian Nations, also doubts that Idalov can benefit from any high patronage in Chechnya. “Idalov works as an advocate and expressed his position openly. He has always been critical of the Russian law enforcement system,” Mr Kutaev has noted.
Those involved in the murder case of the politician Boris Nemtsov, namely, Ruslan Mukhudinov, a Chechen officer, who is considered to be the organizer of the murder, and Ruslan Geremeev, an officer of the "Sever" (North) battalion, were never interrogated by investigators. Sources reported that they had travelled to the UAE and then hid in Chechnya.
*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 18, 2024 at 09:14 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: СK correspondent
