In North Ossetia, the ATC driver who knocked down a woman refuses to plead guilty

On March 19, the Military Prosecutor's Office of North Ossetia continued the hearing of the case of soldier Darkhan Seitmagambetov who knocked a woman down to death in November 2007 when he was driving his ATC-80 (Armoured Troop Carrier). He was charged under Article 350, part 2, of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but the defendant would not admit his guilt.

The examination of perished woman's body was made only externally, since A. Pogorova's relatives had categorically refused from internal medical examination.

An expert made a conclusion that her death could be caused by an impact of the ATC-80 and any collision with some other vehicle looked improbable.

Then, the court studied the protocol of the auto-technical examination of the ATC. The conclusion of the examination runs that soldier Darkhan Seitmagambetov could have prevented the traffic accident if he had not breached Traffic Rules of the Russian Federation, stipulated by Points 9.9 and 10.1.

However, Ahmed Pogorov, the casualty's father, has stated at the court that he thinks it to be a deliberate murder.

"I regret of what has happened. I couldn't believe that I had driven down a human, and I don't believe it now. Consequently, I don't plead guilty," defendant Seitmagambetov has declared.

According to the defendant, when the ATC reached a Road Police station, a man took him away from there to the militia strong point in Maiskiy settlement, where the soldier was repeatedly beaten by several persons. Seitmagambetov thinks that they were the victim's relatives. No investigation of this fact was held, as the soldier wrote an application that he had no claims against those people.