| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Zhuravel sentenced to imprisonment |
| 2024-02-28 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [KavkazUzel] A court in Chechnya found Nikita Zhuravel guilty and sentenced him to three years and six months in prison for burning the Koran. As the Caucasian Knot reported, on February 20, the prosecutor demanded that Nikita Zhuravel be found guilty of violating the right to religion and hooliganism and sentenced to three years and six months in prison in a general regime colony. Today, the Visaitovsky District Court of Grozny made a decision in the case of Nikita Zhuravel, finding him guilty of violating articles of the Criminal Code “Violation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion”, and “Hooliganism”, imposing a sentence of imprisonment in a general regime colony for a period of three years and six months, TASS reports. Note that this is the same period that the state prosecutor requested. “The final sentence was imposed in the form of three years and six months of imprisonment to be served in a general regime correctional colony,” judge Ruslan Dandaev announced the decision, as quoted by the agency. Nikita’s parents were present in court, reports the “Bloody Lady” telegram channel. The term requested by the prosecutor does not look very strict by Russian standards, but the very qualification of the charges raises questions, head of the SOVA Research Center* Alexander Verkhovsky told a Caucasian Knot correspondent on February 20. Earlier, human rights activists questioned Nikita Zhuravel’s testimony about the burning of the Koran, taking into account the conditions in which he was in Chechnya. Lawyers have noted that Zhuravel’s confession in court may be calculated to gain the court’s leniency and indicate a deal with the investigation, but words that he did not act alone may make the qualification more difficult. Let us remind you that Nikita Zhuravel was detained in Volgograd on May 20, 2023. The detainee said that he recorded a video of the burning of the Koran at the direction of the Ukrainian special services and received 10 thousand rubles for it, and he handed over the recording itself to an employee of the Ukrainian special services, for whom he also filmed military facilities, investigators said. The "Caucasian Knot" also wrote that on September 25, 2023, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, published a video recording of his son Adam beating Zhuravel in a pre-trial detention center. The head of Chechnya praised his son for this act. After this, Adam Kadyrov received the title of Hero of Chechnya and the highest state awards of Karachay-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria, and in total at least nine state and public awards. Related: Nikita Zhuravel: 2024-02-21 Prosecutor demanded 42 months in prison for Zhuravel Nikita Zhuravel: 2024-02-13 Zhuravel, who burned the Koran, said in court that he did not think about the consequences Nikita Zhuravel: 2024-02-11 Lawyers called the Ombudsman's statement about the beating of Zhuravel by Kadyrov a formal reply |
| Posted by:badanov |