In Kabardino-Balkaria, five defendants from Ingushetia and Chechnya stop hunger strike

Five detainees kept in the pre-trial isolation facility (SIZO) in Nalchik - residents of Ingushetia and Chechnya - have stopped their hunger strike. This was reported by the Chief Correction Administration (the so-called "GUIN") of the Russian Federation for the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR).

"Five of the hunger-strikers have stopped their action, the others hold on with their protest," a source from the GUIN for the KBR said and added that the protest has nothing to do with the custody conditions in the SIZO. According to the source, the health condition of the protesters is satisfactory. They are under doctor's control.

Today, they were visited by a special commission from Ingushetia, which includes representatives of the Republic's Judicial Department and human rights activist Magomed Khazbiev.

Meanwhile, advocate Magomed Gandarov, who is defending three of the protesters, said that the reason for the hunger strike "was unjustified procrastination of the judicial investigation."

According to Mr Gandarov, the inmates on hunger strike are accused of committing various heavy and especially heavy crimes - "banditism", "participation in criminal communities", "murder", "terror acts" and so on.

These cases had been investigated by the Russian State Office of Public Prosecutor, and the investigation was over in June 2008. However, the court has not started the legal proceedings. According to the advocate, the court appoints the date of hearings, but the public prosecutors, employees of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation for the South Federal District (SFD) fail to appear at the trial.