The “Tsentralny District Court of Simferopol” announced the verdict in absentia to Mr.Edem Bekirov, accused of transporting and storing explosives and ammunition.
“Judge” Sergey Demenok found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to seven years of imprisonment in the general regime penal colony. The punishment included also paying a RUR150,000 fine.
The announcement of the verdict took place without the participation of the audience, who were not allowed into the courthouse. The defense also did not appear at the session. The court clerk informed lawyer Alexey Ladin about the sentence by telephone. According to the defense, the verdict will be appealed in the appellate instance.
We would remind that Mr.Edem Bekirov is a disabled person, the first group, without one leg, and also has a number of serious illnesses. He was accused of having transported and handed over to the “secret witness” a bag with 14 kg of explosives. Bekirov spent more than 1 year and 8 months in the pre-trial detention center. The security men detained him at the entrance to Crimea on December 12, 2018. He was heading to the peninsula to visit his mother and other relatives before a planned heart surgery. He was released on September 7, 2019 within an “exchange” between Ukraine and Russia.
At the end of February 2021, a “court” in Crimea began a new trial of a criminal case against former political prisoner Edem Bekirov.
