25 October 2007, 10:29
Victim party banned access to Politkovskaya's case
Today, the Basmanny Court of Moscow has refused to oblige the Investigatory Committee of the General Prosecutor's Office of Russia to admit the victim party to participation in the murder case of journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
Thus, the advocates' complaint has been rejected. The defenders themselves were at that time near the courtroom; however, the court was considering the case without their participation. Journalists were also not let to the session, the ITAR-TASS reports.
In the opinion of representatives of the victim party Karina Moskalenko and Anna Stavitskaya, the investigators are roughly breaching the constitutional rights of the victims and complicate their access to justice. "Until now the victim party has not been admitted to the materials of the case, despite the submitted petition on taking part in the investigation," the two ladies said.
The advocates have accused the investigatory bodies of inactivity that breaks the constitutional rights of the victim party, depriving it of legal assistance. At the same time, Vyacheslav Smirnov who is representing the General Prosecutor's Office had insisted that the refusal to provide access to the materials of the case "does not breach the constitutional rights of the victims and their representatives." The Court upheld the arguments of the prosecution and rejected the complaint. The advocate state that they will surely appeal against the decision made at the Moscow City Court.
