IN KABARDINO-BALKARIA A COURT RULED PROSECUTION'S EXPERT ANALYSIS TO BE "PERVERSE EVIDENCE"
Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 20 March 2018
On 14 and 15 March 2018, at hearings on the criminal case of the Jehovah's Witness Arkady Akopian in the Prokhladnyi district court of Kabardino-Balkaria, the expert Irina Balova was questioned, who provided the conclusion underlying the accusation of Akopian on the basis of part 1 of article 282 of the Criminal Code of the RF (arousing hatred, demeaning dignity). The court found substantial shortcomings in this conclusion and ordered a new expert analysis in the case.
The expert Balova analyzed disgusting "statements" that were falsely ascribed to Arkady Akopian on the basis of "recollections" of several witnesses for the prosecution, who, judging by the locations of their cell phones, on the day they indicated were not even in the vicinity of the house of worship. At the same time, a whole bunch of witnesses for the defense affirmed that Akopian did not say anything of the kind either on the indicated day or any time at all. Among the methodological shortcomings of the expert analysis one can note the fact that the expert ignored the absence of a punctuation mark in the statement being analyzed, which permits one to interpret it completely differently.
The defense presented to the court a well-reasoned petition about the necessity of conducting a new expert analysis. Despite the objection of the state prosecutor, the court ruled to order a complex psycho-linguistic expert analysis in the case.
The hearings will continue on 17 April 2018 at 10:00. (tr. by PDS, posted 22 March 2018)
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