According to Interfax, the Supreme Court of Dagestan sentenced
Rakhil Mamedrezayaev to 15 years of imprisonment in the colony
of strict regime, the Jury found Mamedrezayaev guilty of murder
of Farid Babayev, the leader of the Dagestan YABLOKO, and
unlawful keeping of guns.
The state prosecution asked the court to sentence the accused
to 12 years of imprisonment in accordance with Article 105
of the Criminal Code (murder) and to additional five years
of imprisonment in accordance with Article 222 of the Criminal
Code (unlawful weapons-bearing and keeping of guns). Considering
this fact, the Jury acknowledged the accused deserving leniency,
the prosecutor asked to give him 16 years in total.
The second of the accused charged with complicity of murder,
Seferali Sefemerzoyev, who lived with Mamedrezayaev in the
same village, was acquitted by the Jury on May 21 and released
from custody in the court hall. The Supreme Court of Dagestan
confirmed this decision.
YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin was satisfied with the
decision of the court as regards Mamedrezayaev. “The positive
thing is that the [Supreme Court] left the sentence to the
murderer virtually unchanged, reducing the sentence by one
year only with regard to the Jury decision. However, I think
that there was a great threat of its considerable mitigation
or even abrogation,” Mitrokhin said.
However, the politician expressed his disagreement with acquittal
of the second figurant of the case. According to him, “Sefemerzoyev
is an obvious culprit in the murder, judging both from the
witnesses’ testimony and other materials of the investigation,
and again he escaped responsibility.” The person convicted
by the court was actually the one who executed the murder,
and another one, who was undeservedly acquitted was the organiser
of the murder, Mitrokhin said.
In addition, YABLOKO’s leader told that “during examination
of the case by the Jury they had to confront clear threats
from the side of the defendants,” also there were threats
to the witness who, consequently, changed his testimony.
We should note that this is already the second examination
of the case on the murder of Farid Babayev. In January 2009
the Supreme Court of Dagestan acknowledged Mamedrezayaev guilty
of murder sentencing him to 16 years of imprisonment in the
colony of a strict regime. The sentence, as in the present
case, based on the Jury’s verdict.
The Jury considered that Mamedrezayaev was really the one
who had murdered Babayev and had been acting as a part of
a specially organised group. However, the Jury considered
that the fact that the murder was made for remuneration was
lacking enough evidence. Sefemerzoyev accused of complicity
was also acquitted.
After these the prosecution made a cassation appeal on this
decision to the Supreme Court of Russia. Mamedrezayaev’s attorney
also appealed against this decision. Consequently, in June
2009 the Supreme Court of Russia abrogated this previous sentence
and forwarded the case to the Supreme Court of Dagestan for
a new trial with another composition of the court.
We should also note that leader of Dagestan YABLOKO Farid
Babayev was number one in YABLOKO’s list of candidates in
Dagestan at the State Duma elections in 2007. On November
21, several days prior to the voting, he was gunned in the
entrance of his house. Doctors fought for his life foe three
days, but on November 24 Babayev died.
Mamedrezayaev and Sefemerzoyev were caught and arrested in
March 2008. During preliminary investigation they stated that
Abbas Abbasov, the son of the head of Dokuzparinsky district
Kerimkhan Abbasov, whom slained Babayev repeatedly criticised
in public, had ordered the murder. However, later they went
back on their testimony.
At present the investigation considers Abbasov’s political
opponent Sedredin Kanberov be the one who ordered the crime.
Kanberov is hiding from the investigation and is on the wanted
list.
See also:
The
Murder of Farid Babayev
The court once again
recognised the killer of the leader of the Dagestan YABLOKO
guilty or murder. Interfax, May 22, 2010
On
pressure on the witnesses in the case of Farid Babayev, the
murdered leader of the Dagestan YABLOKO.
Statement by the Bureau of the YABLOKO party. May 20, 2010
| 