The Third Court of Appeal in Sochi began to consider the defense complaint of Kabardino-Balkaria resident Salikh Osmanov. In the fall of 2023, the Supreme Court of the KBR sentenced him to 9 years in a maximum security colony. The man was found guilty of preparing sabotage, as well as a negative attitude towards the SVO and the authorities of the Russian Federation.

Osmanov did not admit guilt, claiming falsification of the case and pressure on him, the Memorial Human Rights Center reported.

In his appeal, lawyer Magomed Abubakarov asked to cancel the verdict as unfounded and send the case for a new trial. In his opinion, the verdict distorted the testimony of witnesses and experts. One of the classified witnesses, Tahir Lokyaev, was forced to leave Russia for safety reasons. While abroad, he described how law enforcement officials pressured him and others into giving false testimony against Osmanov. The prosecution has no real evidence that the convict was preparing sabotage, the lawyer noted.

According to investigators, Salikh Osmanov and two accomplices were preparing sabotage near the railway bridge over the canal. Lenin in Prokhladnensky district. All three adhered to radical movements of Islam and had a negative attitude towards Russian government authorities, law enforcement officers and the “special military operation” in Ukraine.

The accusation is based on the testimony of two classified witnesses and correspondence in the Viber messenger expressing a negative attitude towards the war in Ukraine. According to Osmanov, in the FSB building they put a bag over his head, handcuffed his hands, threatened him and demanded that he confess.