Zakharchenko’s lawyer Evgeny Rubinshtein in his speech drew attention to the fact that his client’s case should not be considered by the Presnensky Court (he did not offer any other jurisdiction), and also expressed bewilderment about the concept of “virtual account”, illegal operations of which the ex-colonel is accused of. Having spoken in detail about his career and promotion through the ranks, Rubinstein called Zakharchenko’s accusations that his client was a member of an organized crime group and received bribes from any of the “Ploshchadka” defendants unsubstantiated, as well as the fact that he received an expensive New Year’s holiday as a gift. in Sochi from businessman Avsholum Yunaev. “All these accusations are based on someone’s words, speculation and free interpretation of baseless assumptions in the complete absence of direct evidence and ignoring the arguments of our experts,” Rubinstein said. Other defenders of Zakharchenko developed the thoughts he expressed and asked Judge Artemov to acquit his client.
Of course, everyone present was waiting for Zakharchenko’s speech: the listeners were accustomed to the fact that he was making jokes, every now and then turning to Milana Digaeva with personal accusations, falling into memories and self-justifications. This time he simply stood in solidarity with his lawyers, told a couple of incidents from his past life (for example, how he liked to root for the Rostov club, what kind of people he had to communicate with in paddy wagons) and asked to justify himself due to the lack of a squad crime and evidence of guilt. “But in my case everything is somehow virtual, all the charges, the evidence, only the prosecutor is non-virtual,” he summed up.
Vasily Kritinin’s defense said in a brief speech that his accusation does not contain any specifics, facts or direct evidence that he was an intermediary in giving bribes. “All accusations are abstract, invented by the investigative authorities and devoid of any specifics. The defense has nothing to even analyze, because Kritinin knew nothing about bribes, did not make any decisions and did not participate in anything. His only fault, or rather bad luck, was his simple acquaintance with Zakharchenko,” said his lawyer.
At the end of the hearing, all the accused, with the exception of Markelov, who refused, made their last word. They expressed hope for a fair decision. The judge closed the debate and scheduled the announcement of the decision for May 17. The Cheka-OGPU will follow the news.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
