The military court in Vlasikha began considering appeals in defense of the publisher of Muslim literature, the head of the largest Islamic book publishing house in Russia “Umma” Aslambek Ezhaev. In February he was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

According to investigators, Ezhaev financed terrorists for many years, using funds from his publishing activities. In total, he allegedly transferred 33 million rubles.

According to lawyers Murad Musaev and Eva Chanieva, a serious violation of the criminal process was the use of testimony of secret witnesses who could not name the source of their knowledge. In the case materials, there are no protocols of interrogation of any of the 29 persons allegedly sponsoring terrorism through Aslambek Ezhaev. 27 million rubles of the amount charged to him for supporting terrorism were transferred by the largest Dagestan wholesaler and spent on the production of printed products - mainly at the Mozhaisk printing plant.

The prosecution claims that 33 million rubles were withdrawn from Ezhaev’s accounts. However, bank card statements included in the case file show an amount of only 4 million for the entire incriminated period, the lawyers noted. The next meeting is scheduled for November 23.