MOSCOW. Nov 7 (Interfax) - Russian lawyer Murad Musayev has described the launch of two criminal inquiries against him as an attempt to prevent his involvement in three trials where he is currently representing defendants' interests.
"The Russian Investigative Committee has chosen to kill three birds with one stone. First, they want to cast a shadow on me ahead of an appeal hearing in the case of Yusup Temerkhanov [who was convicted of killing former Colonel Yury Budanov]. Second, they seek to prevent my involvement in the murder trial of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and, third, they want to put pressure on the jurors hearing the case of Vyacheslav Tsepovyaz," Musayev said on his Facebook page.
On Thursday, the Politkovskaya murder trial is expected to resume, and the jury hearing Tsepovyaz's case should retire to deliberate a verdict, he said.
Musayev denied all of the accusations mounted against him, adding that these criminal cases were opened in retaliation for his successful work defending his clients' interests.
"Generally speaking, the Investigative Committee demonstrated a true example of competition between the sides in court proceedings: if you crush criminal cases opened against your clients, we will open a criminal case against you," he said.
Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax on Thursday that two criminal inquiries had been opened against Musayev.
"One case was opened on the counts of bribing witnesses, and the second one on counts of obstruction of justice," he said.
The new cases were launched as part of an investigation into the killing of Russian Colonel Yury Budanov, Markin added.