Court Decides to Keep Haiser Jemilev in Simferopol Pre-Trial Prison until July 25, 2013

28 May 2013

On May 28, 2013 the Kyiv District Court of Simferopol held hearings to choose the measure of restraint for Haiser Jemilev, son of the Head of the Mejlis of Crimean Tatar People

The Court decided to keep Haiser Jemilev in Simferopol pre-trial prison (for 60 days) until July 25, 2013

This decision was made by the judge of the Kyiv District Court of Simferopol Mr Victor Mozhelyansky.

According to Haiser Jemilev’s advocate Mr Alexander Lesovoi, the suspect’s arrest was awaited and reasonable measure at this stage of the investigation, considering the grave consequences and need in numerous investigative actions, examinations and expertise.

“Haiser Jemilev’s father, Mustafa Jemilev understands the whole gravity and difficulty of the accident. He made no attempts to influence the investigation and decisions, realizing that the state bodies that have the authority to investigate the circumstances of the death have to make the reasonable and legal decisions,”- Mr Alexander Lesovoi noted. “If the court decided to keep the suspect in custody for 60 days, one has to accept this decision and wait for the results of the investigation that started just now,”- Mr Lesovoi said, referring to the suspect’s father.

One should note that the practice of the European Court shows that the arrest in the beginning of the investigation in many cases is the reasonable and right measure, but with the course of time the grounds for the imprisonment become less necessary.

According to Mr Lesovoi no evidences provided by the prosecution or stated at the court session by now prove to Haiser Jemilev’s intention or desire to kill Fevzi Edemov. “Haiser Jemilev said that it was an accident,”- Mr Lesovoi underscored.

According to Mr Lesovoi, the circumstances of the accident are also important and testify to the absence of an intention. “Fevzi Edemov was not shot dead neither at night nor in a desert place or in a hidden way,”- Haiser Jemilev’s advocate explained. “He was shot dead in broad daylight, around 3.30 p.m. in the center of the development with numerous neighbors around. One couldn’t kill anyone intentionally under these circumstances,”- Mr Lesovoi said. In addition, the advocate drew the attention that after the accident Haiser Jemilev remained at the scene. He didn’t try to cover or erase the traces of his actions, but pleaded guilty in reckless killing and immediately informed his father and asked him to come to the scene as soon as possible.

Haiser Jemilev’s advocate also thinks that the prosecution prematurely stated that there were three shots and that they shouldn’t state this before the court experts made their conclusion.

“Until the medical examiner won’t make his conclusion using the results of the reproduction of the circumstances and conditions of this accident we won’t know for sure how many shots were made at the scene,”- Mr Lesovoi noted. He drew the attention to the objective fact that only one cartridge was found at the scene.