Key witness in Karpyuk, Klykh case could not fight in Chechnya as he was in prison then – lawyers

A key witness for the prosecution in the case of Mykola Karpyuk and Stanislav Klykh, Oleksandr Malofeyev, could not fight in Chechnya in 2000 as he was serving sentence in a prison then.

The lawyers of Ukrainian citizens showed the relevant documents to the Radio Liberty journalists.

Oleksansr Malofeyev allegedly confessed to participation in the armed hostilities during the Chechen war. Now he gives evidence against Karpyuk and Klykh. However, the lawyers managed to find a guilty verdict for Malofeyev delivered by the Kerch city court in August 2000.

Mykola Karpyuk and Stanislav Klykh

The verdict lists the episodes of crime, where, as the court found, the key witness against Karpyuk and Klykh was involved in. The episodes include theft of “six ducks worth UAH 97 “, copper wire, metal poles, sprayer and hose, parts of elevator, metal ladders, non-ferrous metals at stations, households and enterprises, 8 meters of cable from a workshop’s roof, etc. A total of seven episodes are listed in the verdict.

Malofeyev committed all those thefts in Crimea during February 13 – March 5, 2000. March 15, he was arrested, subsequently held in custody, and was serving his sentence after the trial. Meanwhile, according to the “Chechen case”, Malofeyev was allegedly involved in those days in the battle for the village of Ulus-Kert and described it in detail in his full confession.

Oleksandr Malofeyev earlier lived in Crimea, where he had several convictions, then in Novosibirsk, Russia, where in 2009 he was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the murder of two or more persons, brigandage. In 2015, he was convicted within the “Chechen case” as a “militant of UNA-UNSO.” However, the UNA-UNSO states that Malofeyev has never been in the ranks of the organization or the party. Due to a plea bargain, his case had been severed from other defendants.

In September 2015, the Shatoisk District Court of Chechnya sentenced Malofeyev to 24.5 years of imprisonment in a penal colony.

As reported, according to investigators, Stanislav Klykh and Mykola Karpyuk were members of the UNA-UNSO organization, which was recognized as extremist and its activity was prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation, and fought in the armed forces of the self-proclaimed Chechen Republic of Ichkeria against the Russian federal troops at the end of 1994 – beginning of 1995.

October 12 last year, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Chechnya in Grozny started consideration of their case on the merits.

The “Memorial” Russian human rights center recognized Karpyuk and Klykh as the political prisoners.