In South Ossetia, a former police officer accused of high-profile murder escaped from court to fight in Ukraine
The murder of Inal Jabiev
In South Ossetia, there has been another scandalous twist in the case of Inal Jabiev’s death. One of the accused, former Criminal Police officer Atsamaz Naniev, violated his travel restriction and left for Russia, from where he plans to go fight in Ukraine. He has been declared wanted.
The Inal Jabiev case
28-year-old Inal Jabiev was detained in Tskhinval in August 2020 on suspicion of attempting to assassinate the Minister of Internal Affairs of South Ossetia, Igor Naniev.
On August 28, 2020, Jabiev died following a brutal interrogation by the Criminal Police. It is believed that he was literally tortured to death.
“There is no law allowing defendants to be sent to the Special Military Operation”
Atsamaz Naniev’s disappearance was discovered after he failed to appear in court twice, on September 2 and 5.
The victims’ side demanded Naniev’s forced return, but his lawyer filed a motion stating that the defendant had “signed a contract with the Russian Armed Forces on July 30 and went to the SMO zone to fulfill his civic duty.” The lawyer argued that declaring his client wanted was unnecessary, as it was already known where he was and which military unit he was serving in.
However, the motion does not include a conclusive part: there is no request to suspend the criminal prosecution.
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The victims’ lawyer, Fatima Gatagonova, stated that there is no law in South Ossetia that allows defendants, whether convicted or under investigation, to “go to the Special Military Operation and have their criminal case dismissed.”
In a conversation with JAMnews, Gatagonova said that Naniev simply fled, and it still needs to be determined how he managed to leave South Ossetia in the first place.
She emphasized that dismissing the criminal case against Naniev is impossible, and by fleeing, he has only “earned himself additional charges.”
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