Chechen lawyer's forced labor was lifted and his status was reinstated

The Moscow Regional Court released Chechen lawyer Timur Idalov from punishment in a criminal case on threats to a prosecutor due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Previously, the lawyer was sentenced to almost two years of forced labor. His lawyer status was also reinstated.

After the verdict, Idalov was illegally held in Moscow's SIZO-4 for a month, despite the punishment not involving imprisonment. At the same time, the Moscow prosecutor's office and the leadership of the FSIN institution were obliged to initiate his release, but did not take any measures.

At the end of November 2024, the court sentenced Idalov to 1 year and 11 months of forced labor in a case on threats to kill or cause harm to health against a prosecutor. In addition, he was banned from practicing law for three years.

The criminal case was opened because in 2022, in the Nikulinsky Court of Moscow, the lawyer said to the prosecutor: "What are you, Commissioner Cattani? That's how they shot him." The lawyer himself notes that he said this phrase in the heat of the moment, and that it is in no way a threat. He later stated that the charges against him were fabricated. The defense called the initiation of a criminal case revenge on the lawyer, who acted as a defense attorney in a number of high-profile criminal cases.

Timur Idalov is known for having appealed to the ECHR against the actions of the authorities during his arrest and imprisonment in a Moscow pretrial detention center and won the case. He also collaborated with the "For Human Rights" project and specialized in cases related to terrorism charges and high-profile murders.

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