From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 6/17/2005 6:46 AM 16.6.2005 18:14 MSK Appeals court quashes Pavel Liuzakov’s sentence RUSSIA, Moscow. Moscow City Court considered the appeal by lawyers representing journalist Pavel Liuzakov and quashed the sentence sending the case back to the court for re-trial. The case will be heard in Moscow’s Ostankinsky District Court but this time by a different Federal judge.
Journalist Pavel Liuzakov, editor-in-chief of Svobodnoye Slovo (Free Speech) newspaper and permanent contributor to Chechen website Kavkaz-Tsentr, was sentenced by Moscow’s Ostankinsky District Court to two years in custody in penal colony settlement for illegal purchase, possession and bearing of firearms.
Moscow City Court’s judicial collegiate for criminal review heard the defence and the prosecutor and withdrew for consultations. Anna Stavitskaya, defending, asked the court to send the case for re-trial as the sentence contains unrectifiable contradictions. Abu Gaitayev, defending, stated that the sentence fell short of the principles of justice and asked the court to replace the custodial sentence with a conditional one. Kirill Podrabinek, defending, asked to have the conviction quashed and to abandon the prosecution as the sentence was based on assumptions and speculation of the witnesses which makes it unfair. Prosecutor Galanin asked the court to leave the sentence in force and to dismiss the lawyers’ appeal.
Following consultations, the judicial collegiate quashed the sentence and ordered a re-trial in the same court but this time by different judges. The reasons for the decision have not been disclosed. It is expected that these will be stated in the court’s written judgement which is to be brought to the attention of all parties in the next few days.
Lawyer Anna Stavitskaya told PRIMA-News that she rules out the possibility of a harsher sentence following the re-trial.
Translated by Olga Sharp PRIMA-News Agency [2005-06-15-Rus-36] http://www.prima-news.ru/eng/news/news/2005/6/16/32644.htmlre well-known Russian language centers. And to assume that the Ingush, Ossetian, or Kabardian linguists know the Russian language better than these institutes do, is ridiculous," said Ruslan Badalov, the head of ChKNS.
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