In Chechnya, the arrest of a 71-year-old lawyer accused of drug possession was extended

On January 14, the Leninsky District Court of the city of Grozny extended the detention of lawyer Sergei Marakov, who is accused of possessing drugs on a large scale without the intent of selling (Part 2 of Article 228 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the Caucasian Knot publication.

The court extended Marakov’s detention in the pre-trial detention center until March 14, 2021. In December 2020, the district court sent the 71-year-old lawyer under house arrest, but the Supreme Court of Chechnya overturned this decision and decided to send Marakov to a pre-trial detention center. On January 14, it became known that the lawyer’s clients, who had provided him with an apartment for house arrest, had withdrawn their consent. The man is currently in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in Chechnya.

Marakov was detained on December 8, 2020 and arrested for ten days under the article of petty hooliganism (Article 20.1 of the Administrative Code) allegedly for obscene language. However, upon leaving the special detention center, he was taken for questioning to the Investigative Committee as part of a criminal case under the article on possession of drugs on a large scale without the purpose of sale (Part 2 of Article 228 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, on December 8, security forces detained a “suspicious” man and seized a bag of marijuana from him. Marakov claims that at the police department they planted a black bag with a specific smell on him, and also demanded that he name any name of the person from whom he allegedly purchased it.

“We will work until the last minute to achieve something. Leaving a person in such a state is an outrageous case,” the publication reports the words of lawyer Zhanna Karieva.

Another lawyer, Andrei Sabinin,commented on the court’s decision on Facebook: “No miracle happened in the case of Stavropol lawyer Sergei Marakov.”

• Colleagues of Sergei Marakov are confident that the actions of the police are related to the professional activities of a lawyer. The Advokatskaya Street publication published a corresponding statement. The Bar Association of the Stavropol Territory sent an appeal to the head of the Investigative Committee of Chechnya demanding a thorough verification of the circumstances of Marakov’s detention.
• On January 9, 2018, in Chechnya, the head of the Grozny branch of the Memorial Human Rights Center, Oyub Titiev, was detained - the police allegedly found a bag of marijuana in his car and took the man to the department. Titiev claimed that the bag of marijuana was planted. On March 18, 2019, the human rights activist was sentenced to four years in a penal colony. On June 21, 2019, Titiev was released on parole. The Memorial Human Rights Center called the evidence in the case of Oyub Titiev fabricated, and the court's bias - accusatory.