Today’s hearing in the Rostov Regional Court was very indicative, when once again the hearings were postponed. The judge considered several petitions received remotely from participants in the trial who were not present in the courtroom. Thus, one of the defenders wrote that he was currently on vacation and would not be able to attend the meeting. Two more lawyers also announced the dates when they were going to rest. A representative of the regional prosecutor’s office asked to refuse to postpone the meeting and made a motion to send a presentation to the Bar Association in order to bring the absent lawyer to disciplinary liability for disrupting the process. The judge did not consider such a request. At the same time, the accused had three defense attorneys who were in the courtroom. But they and the defenders of the other accused also asked for the trial to be postponed. The court rejected these requests, but said that it had received statements from four jurors that they asked to be removed from the trial for personal reasons. And one of the jurors, without warning or explanation of the reasons, left the courthouse right during the hearing (!). As a result, there were seven jurors, which according to the law was not enough to continue the trial, and it was postponed again.
Meanwhile, the defendants in the case are Zauri Dakishvili, Giorgi Dakishvili, Vasily Dakishvili, Merabi Mamaev, Sulim Musaev and Rashid Ibragimov, who are accused under the article “murder of two or more persons committed by a group of persons” (from 8 to 20 years in prison, or life imprisonment) , according to the decision of the Third Court of Appeal, remain at large.
The situation that is developing in the Rostov region does not just look anecdotal, but, according to observers, it directly discredits the judicial system. Meanwhile, until the court makes its decision, violent clashes between farmers in the region continue. A month and a half ago, there was a clash between two farms in the Remontnensky district, as a result of which 8 people were detained. Last year, the police also had to intervene in one of these disputes between farmers, in which farmers brought weapons with them to the showdown.
In the corridors of power they say that without federal intervention, it seems that the Rostov farm drama will not be resolved. As of today, only 8 jurors remain in the trial, and if any of them withdraw, the trial will again be postponed indefinitely. Practice in the regions shows that it is not too difficult to bribe or intimidate a juror – there are practically no precedents when the perpetrators would be punished and the investigation of such cases would become public.
The farm drama caused a lot of noise in the Rostov region, open mockery of Themis and the inaction of the authorities are also happening before everyone’s eyes, so it is not surprising that people have lost faith in the effectiveness of regional judicial and law enforcement agencies, and are beginning to make the law, as they say, with their own hands.
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