Jury brings in not guilty verdict in Chubais attempted murder case

MOSCOW, August 21 (Itar-Tass) -- The jury at the Moscow Regional Court
has acquitted the defendants standing trial on charges of attempted murder
of ex-CEO of the UES of Russia, Anatoly Chubais.
By a majority vote the jurors acquitted all of the four accused:
retired colonel of the military intelligence GRU, Vladimir Kvachkov, and
former paratroopers Alexander Naidyonov and Robert Yashin, and also Ivan
Mironov, son of a former minister of the press. Five of the twelve jurors
also said the very instance of an assassination attempt remained unproven.
The jurors spent over eight hours in the deliberation room. The judge
returned them to edit the answers to the questions six times on the
pretext the verdict was unclear. The session at the Moscow Regional Court
began at 10:00 on Friday morning to have lasted for about fifteen hours.
After the verdict was pronounced, the judge thanked the jurors and they
left the courtroom.
The court's next session on the case is due on September 15. It is
expected that on that day the acquittal will read out.
The former chief executive officer of UES of Russia, Anatoly Chubais,
will not appeal against the acquittal, his representative, Andrei
Shugayev, told the media. He said his client was certain about the guilt
of the defendants, and the investigation had presented in court all
necessary evidence. Chubais believes that they have already been punished
well enough, because they spent three years behind bars, and then, as much
time remained confined to their permanent place of residence as long.
"We shall not appeal against that decision, but if somebody, for
instance, the prosecutor's office, does that, I am certain that the
defendants will be eventually found guilty," he added.
The lawyer suspects that the jurors were guided by social prejudices.
"He (Chubais) is not liked, and nothing can be done about that," the
lawyer explained. He also remarked that in this particular case "society's
dislike of Chubais has outweighed common sense."
The acquitted said they were satisfied with the verdict. Kvachkov
described trial by jury as "the sole fair way of administering justice."
The supporters, relatives and friends of the accused gave the verdict a
standing ovation.
The Chubais attempted assassination attempt case was already
scrutinized by the Moscow Regional Court once. On June 5, 2008 the jurors
brought in a not guilty verdict and the defendants were released from
custody in the courtroom. However, later the Supreme Court overturned the
ruling and sent the case back for retrial.
The case against the fourth defendant - Ivan Mironov, son of Russia's
former minister of the press, Boris Mironov, was first separated from the
main one, but then merged with the case of Kvachkov, Yashin and Naidyonov
again. He was released from custody in exchange for personal guarantees
offered by several State Duma members.
The roadside explosion and fire attack against the passing motorcade
of the energy holding company's CEO occurred on the Mitkinskoye road, the
Odintsovo district of the Moscow Region on March 17, 2005. According to
the prosecution, the accused had prior knowledge of the route and schedule
of the plaintiff and ambushed his limousine. When Chubais's limousine came
close, they detonated a roadside bomb, estimated at 11.5 kilograms of the
TNT. After that the attackers opened fire with a Kalashnikov automatic
rifle at Chubais's car and the escort vehicle. Nobody was hurt.