Oyub Titiev reproaches Prosecutor's Office for bias

The court dismissed the request of the Oyub Titiev's defence to attach to the case file the materials refuting the testimonies given by witnesses for the prosecution. Advocates pointed to the creation of unequal conditions for the parties to the trial. Oyub Titiev himself stated that the above materials should have been collected by the Prosecutor's Office.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Oyub Titiev's case has been under consideration by the Shali City Court since July 19, 2018. At the court hearing held on January 14, the defence filed a motion to attach to the case materials the protocol of inspection of the website for the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and several Instagram accounts with photos of employees of the Kurchaloi ROVD (District Interior Department) dressed in uniforms with insignia of the rapid response team (known as GBR). The advocates believe the photos refute the testimonies given by the prosecution witnesses.

At the today's court hearing in the Oyub Titiev's case, the public prosecutor has expressed her position on the defence motion, reports the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in its broadcast through the Telegram channel from the court hearing. According to the reply read out by public prosecutor Baitaeva, the public prosecution insisted that the documents (protocols of website inspection) had been obtained not at a request from an advocate, but at a request of the HRC "Memorial", which was not involved in the trial.

Advocate Pyotr Zaikin has mentioned that the issue of the evidence admissibility is the responsibility of the court. "If our motion is not granted, the court will thus create the conditions more favourable for one of the parties, the public prosecution," Pyotr Zaikin has stated.

According to Oyub Titiev, the information should have been collected by the Prosecutor's Office, and not by his advocates and the HRC "Memorial", the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports. "We see the fact that the Prosecutor's Office is not interested in establishing the truth. That lasts throughout the entire trial," Oyub Titiev has said.

Judge Zainetdinova dismissed the defence motion to attach the protocol of inspection to the case materials.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 15, 2019 at 12:13 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.