14:21, 30 October 2008

Dagestan: Farid Babaev's murder case will be trialled in closed mode

Today, at the second court session on the case of murdering Farid Babaev, leader of the Republic's branch of "Yabloko" Party, committed in Dagestan, the judge has ruled that the following sessions will be held in the closed mode, since, in the opinion of the prosecution, the coverage of the trial in media exerts pressure on jurymen and witnesses.

Thus, Judge Ibram Garunov has satisfied the petition of state prosecutor Gusein Alilov, who asked to hold subsequent sessions in the closed mode. The petition was lodged in the interests of safety of the participants of the litigation on the basis of Article 241 of the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure.

State prosecutor Gusein Alilov has stated that "the biased coverage of the trial by media is exerting pressure on jurymen and witnesses who should appear at court."

Besides, the state prosecutor has announced that since additional witnesses (militiamen) need to be interrogated, in view of their safety the trial should be made closed.

Author: Oleg Ionov, CK correspondent