On May 11, the Presnensky Court for the second time urgently considered medical …

On May 11, the Presnensky Court for the second time urgently reviewed the medical documents of the ex-co-owner of GC “1520” Valery Markelov. He is one of the defendants in the second case of ex-Colonel Zakharchenko, the verdict in which will be announced on May 17.

On May 7, judge Olga Kiselkova did not release Markelov, who was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, for emergency treatment (VGK-OGPU talked about this here). It should be noted that the medical commission ordered Markelov to begin treatment on April 25, however, despite the fact that his illness is included in the legally established list of obstacles to detention, Markelov is in Lefortovo, and chemotherapy has not been started.

At the previous meeting, Kiselkova did not release Markelov from custody, citing the fact that for “reasons unclear to the court” Markelov was not brought to the Presnensky Court. The public saw in this a cunning combination initiated by the state prosecution, aimed at artificially keeping Markelov in a pre-trial detention center at least until the verdict was announced.

On May 11, another judge, Elena Abramova, took over Markelov’s case. She immediately reported that the court had received a document from the pre-trial detention center stating that the demand for Markelov’s delivery had been issued in violation and announced a 30-minute break “to clarify the circumstances.”

In fact, this break lasted an hour, and during this time it became clear that Markelov would not be brought into the trial. State prosecutor Milana Digaeva, as at the last hearing, filed a motion that the trial could not take place without Markelov’s personal presence. Alexander Gofshtein, the latter’s lawyer, asked for his client to participate remotely, via video link, because “in his situation, every day of delay could be fatal.”

The judge did not grant this request and, due to Markelov’s absence, postponed the hearing until May 12.