Kazbek Dukuzov, center, surrounded by the law enforcement officers.
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Paul Klebnikov’s Alleged Murderer to Remain under Guard
Moscow Basmanny Court extended Monday, September 26, 2005, the period under guard for Kazbek Dukuzov, who is charged with the murder of Russia’s Forbes editor-in-chief Paul Klebnikov. To get the term extended, the prosecutors convinced the court that Dukuzov was both the crime arranger and the executor, therefore, he will stay under arrest or go into hiding otherwise. Dukuzov’s lawyers claim investigators have no direct evidence against their client.
When advocating prolongation of detention, the prosecutors told the court Dukuzov was charged with grave crimes, which he had both masterminded and executed. According to investigators, Chechen Kazbek Dukuzov had created a hired killing criminal group in Moscow. Last summer, he personally shot the late deputy prime minister of Chechnya Yan Sergunin and U.S. journalist Paul Klebnikov. Before it he had taken part in violent robbery and attempted to murder Moscow businessman Alexey Pichugin. Dukuzov lived and was condemned under the forged documents (as Ruslan Musaev, he faced the trial in the Lyublino Court of Moscow, which condemned him for a minor crime), therefore, he can easily escape if freed from restraint.
It is small wander that with such incrimination list, the court ignored both the lawyers’ arguments that the forged document charge had not been brought in and Dukuzov’s statement that “he had killed no one” and extended detention till December 9, 2005.
Investigation of Paul Klebnikov’s murder was completed August 31, 2005. To-date, Dukuzov and his lawyers have studied around half of the criminal files (37 volumes overall). Although the lawyers declined to comment due to the nondisclosure commitment, sources familiar with the matter said the defense would insist all evidences collected by the prosecutors were indirect.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 27, 2005
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