News

28 January 2016

Russia’s Supreme Court upholds sentence for convicted in 2005 Nalchik attack case

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has today upheld the verdict issued by the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria in the criminal case concerning the 2005 attack on Nalchik, known as the “Trial of the 58.” The term of imprisonment was reduced by 6 months for all of the accused except those five who had previously received life sentences—Aslan Kuchmenov, Anzor Mashukov, Murat Bapinayev, Eduard Mironov and Rasul Kudayev. Russian Justice Initiative represented the interests of 12 defendants in the case in their appeals to the Russian Supreme Court and in their applications before the European Court of Human Rights, in which they alleged torture and cruel treatment as well as the denial of the right to effective counsel. At present, most of the complaints have been communicated to the Russian authorities.