A new case of racially motivated assault is heard in Krasnogvardeysky District Court.
Two defendants, Roman Kulev and Vladislav Smolikov, are charged with attempted murder, and Kulev is also charged with illegal possession of weapons.
According to the victim, he went to a store, while talking on a cell phone in Uzbek. He went into an alley, where he was attacked from behind, sprayed with pepper spray and stabbed.
On September 11, four witnesses testified. Two witnesses were present during the investigative action, when the victim identified his assailants. This took place in the hospital where the victim received treatment. The third witness was a policeman, he conducted a personal search of Smolikov and interrogated him about his nationalist views. The fourth witness knew the defendants in person: they stayed in his apartment in St. Petersburg. He witnessed that the defendants did not express nationalist views in his presence; the witness could only assume that defendant Kulev has “traditional values”, judging by his Slavic, Scandinavian tattoos. In addition, the witness testified that the investigators pressured him during a search of his apartment.
