| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Jury Decides Klebnikov Murder Case
// Mikhail Khodorkovsky's prosecutor loses Klebnikov murder case
The Prosecutor General's Office suffered a major defeat yesterday in the case of the murder of Forbes editor Paul Klebnikov in the Moscow Municipal Court. All three defendants were found not guilty by a jury and released from custody. Dmitry Shokhin, head of the prosecutorial department and senior justice adviser at the Prosecutor General's Office who gained fame for his prosecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, represented the state in the case.
Two natives of Chechnya, Kazbek Dukuzov and Musa Vakhaev, were accused of committing the murder of Klebnikov, which took place in Moscow on July 9, 2004. They are identified in the material from the investigation as members of an ethnic criminal group that specializes in contract murders. The prosecutor identified the entrepreneur Khozh-Akhmed Nukhaev, who is still at large, the orderer of the murder, allegedly because he didn't like the book Interview with a Barbarian (Intervyu s varvarom), which Klebnikov wrote based on interviews with him. Dukuzov and Vakhaev were also accused of the murder of former deputy chairman of the Chechen government Yan Sergunin. A third defendant, former Moscow notary Fail Sadretdinov, was incriminated in the attack on “underground” realtor Alexey Pichugin that was also carried out by Dukuzov and Vakhaev. Prosecutor Dmitry Shokhin insisted that the trial be closed to the public for the sake of witness's security and because “information in the media on the progress of the trial may exert pressure on witnesses and the jury.”
Yesterday Judge Vladimir Usov was unable to disclose the verdict for a long time. Three times he returned it to the jury for “stylistic refinement.” Vakhaev's lawyer Ruslan Khasanov explained that “the formulations contained inaccuracies and Judge Usov returned the question with the admonition to Think again.'” The jury thought until 9:00 p.m.
Pichugin was the first to leave the courtroom. He had a tortured expression on his face and did not speak to anyone. Ten minutes later, he was followed by the lawyers. “They're all not guilty!” they exclaimed. Shout of triumph were heard from the defendants' friends and relatives inside the courtroom.
The lawyers said that the jury answered 54 questions. Fail Sadretdinov, they said, was unanimously found not guilty of all counts. Opinion was divided on Dukuzov and Vakhaev. Eight people found them not guilty and four disagreed. Since the trial was closed and the jury members did not reveal details from it, it is not known what in the state's case failed to convince them. The defendants were to be freed on the spot, but that did not happen until they completed the necessary paperwork. They emerged at about 10:00. Dukuzov and Vakhaev got into cars with shouts of victory and left. Sadretdinov made a short statement. “They wanted to provide that I am in Al Qaeda and I'm the son-in-law of Ben Laden. It didn't work,” he said. Then he also left by car. It was not possible to receive meaningful commentary from the relatives of the defendants.
Shokhin also declined to speak to anyone, except to state that “we will appeal the results of the trial” as he left.
Representatives of the Klebnikov family were surprisingly calm. Marisa Maslennikov, who represents the family's interests, told Kommersant that “we agree with the opinion of the court because we respect its decision. Our actions are determined by our client Michael Klebnikov [Paul Klebnikov's brother], whom we have already informed of the verdict. He has a civilized attitude toward the verdict, that is, he respects it.”
Alexey Gerasimov
All the Article in Russian as of May 06, 2006
|
|
|
