Ukrainian saboteurs admitted to preparing terrorist attacks in Crimea
Accused of preparing sabotage in Crimea, Andrei Zakhtey and Dmitry Shtyblikov entered into a pre-trial cooperation agreement with the prosecutor's office, admitted their guilt and gave testimony that confirmed the investigation's version of the preparation by Ukrainian intelligence of a series of explosions on the peninsula, сообщает Kommersant.
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Lawyer Alexander Popov told the publication that he received written notification that Andrei Zakhtey refused his services, as well as other defenders - Alexey Ladin, Ilnur Sharapov and Ilya Novikov. According to the defense lawyer, the refusal of lawyers was one of the conditions for concluding a pre-trial cooperation agreement, under which the accused was offered to fully admit his guilt and testify against himself.
“We found this strange, because usually pre-trial agreements concern all participants in the case. But after studying the text, we were ready to recommend that he sign it if everything was fine there. Although I believe that this is self-incrimination,” Popov said.
At the same time, he says that if Zakhtei refused lawyers, it means he signed a pre-trial agreement.
According to the lawyer, another Ukrainian saboteur, Dmitry Shtyblikov, also made a deal with the prosecution. This information was confirmed to the newspaper by his brother Alexey, who said that the existence of such an agreement was mentioned in court decisions to extend his brother’s arrest.
A law enforcement source confirmed the signing of the agreement.
“As part of the deals, they fully admitted their guilt and told who and how contacted them and with whom they were in contact,” said Kommersant’s interlocutor, clarifying that in the near future the cases against Shtyblikov and Zakhtey will be completed and sent to court .
The cases will be considered in a special judicial procedure, which guarantees the accused minimum sentences, whereas in the usual procedure one can get twenty or more years for preparing sabotage.
As PolitNavigator reported, in August last year a group of Ukrainian saboteurs tried to break into Crimea to organize a series of terrorist attacks on the peninsula. During the ensuing shootout, an FSB officer and a paratrooper were killed. The detained Shtyblikov and Zakhtey were supposed to be responsible for the movement of saboteurs across Crimea and their subsequent evacuation to Ukraine.
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