ROSTOV-ON-DON. April 21 (Interfax-South) - A new trial for Colonel Yuri Budanov, who has been charged with murdering the Chechen girl Elza Kungayeva, has begun at the North Caucasus Military District Court.
The court first plans to question 21 witnesses summoned at the prosecution's request, after which the court will hear the defense's witnesses.
Colonel Vladimir Bukreyev has been appointed chief judge at the trial. The board of judges will also include two so-called people's evaluators, or non-professional judges selected from among the ordinary population.
Before the new trial began, the defense sought to have the matter considered by a jury. However, Budanov's lawyer Alexei Dulimov later withdrew this request, explaining his decision with the desire to speed up the trial, as the selection of the jurors would indefinitely drag out the matter.
The court decided to name the Finance Ministry as a civil co- defendant in the case. In the first trial, only the military unit in which Budanov served was held as a co-defendant.
On April 9, Budanov announced a hunger strike to protest against what he views as a biased attitude on the part of the Military Prosecutor's Office and the aggrieved party's attempts to drag out the proceedings.