Today the Nizhegorodsky district court of Nizhny Novgorod has conducted another hearing under the criminal case against police officers accused of abusing Alexey Yakimov at night on 4-5 April 2009.

The court has questioned a witness who stated during the pre-trial investigation that he had taken part as an attesting witness during Mr. Yakimov’s search and the detainee had not been ill-treated and had had no injuries.   

Today this witness has stated that he had never been an attesting witness during any investigative activities in his life. And he has never seen Mr. Yakimov.  The accused, officer Timofeyev and Koreguin, asked him to sign a blank protocol saying that it was just a formality.  Thus, the witness’s statement proves that the policemen’s version about their innocence and non-involvement into the crime is just a way of protection and is totally made-up.

Lawyers of INGO “Committee against Torture” who have been representing Alexey Yakimov’s interests for almost a year hope that now the court will have no doubts when delivering a lawful and motivated conviction at the end of the trial.