Ex-governor Furgala was removed from the courtroom until the end of the process

The accused in the murders was indignant that the representative of the prosecutor’s office named nicknames, not surnames

The former governor of the Khabarovsk Territory, Sergei Furgal, on Wednesday, October 26, did not participate in the trial in his case, but watched it on TV in the next room. On the eve of the ex-governor was removed “for violating order in court.” Now Furgal will be able to appear before the jury again only during the last word (if his protest against removal is not satisfied). On the eve of the court refused to interview witnesses for the defense. At the same time, Furgal filed about a dozen motions to challenge the judge who is leading the process (I remind you that the case is heard with the participation of jurors).

As you know, it is the judge’s right to remove or not one of the participants in the process or its spectators. The judge of the Lyubertsy city court Gennady Tsoi used it more than once during the high-profile case, in which Furgal is a defendant. Not so long ago, he removed one of the defendants – Andrei Karepov. This happened during the interrogation of Furgal’s former business partner Mistryukov. However, on the last day of the interrogation, Karepov was returned so that he could ask his questions to Mistryukov. And on Tuesday, both Karepov and Furgal were removed from the hall, moreover, until the end of the judicial debate.

The formal reason is a violation of the order. It was expressed in the fact that Karepov loudly expressed indignation at the interrogation of a representative of the prosecutor’s office, who used nicknames and did not name his full name. Furgal supported him. The judge decided not to limit himself to a warning, but to remove Furgal. Despite the fact that earlier the ex-governor could express dissatisfaction, but this passed without any consequences. So why is there such a drastic measure now?

Furgal and his lawyer filed motions to return to the courtroom, but the judge did not grant them. However, like the eight petition for his own recusal.

Now in the case of the ex-governor – the stage of presenting evidence for the defense.

“We filed a petition for a study involving sworn documents, which we consider necessary to present, and a survey of witnesses (8 people in total), says lawyer Mikhail Karapetyan. – That was last week. And they got the answer – a refusal in everything. The judge “demolished” all, without exception, the witnesses. And he didn’t let us present extremely important papers. Honestly, our indignation and surprise knew no bounds. I personally see this for the first time (I have a legal experience of 18 years). Interviewed familiar lawyers with over 30 years of experience. And none of them remembered it. It seems that this is the only case in principle in the history of modern legal proceedings.

We are talking about the first episode (there are only three of them in the case), concerning the attempted murder of businessman Smolsky in 2004. But it looks like he’s not the only one with the problem.

“We have prepared for the second episode – the murder of citizen Zorya,” continues Karapetyan. – Another petition has been filed with another piece of evidence. And again refusal. On the third episode, the judge has not yet refused, but requires motivation – why do we want these or those witnesses for the defense to be interrogated. But the Code of Criminal Procedure does not indicate that we must explain to the court, they say, this witness will explain this and that. After all, there were situations when people gave different and sometimes even opposite testimonies at the trial.

By the way, all of the witnesses for the prosecution were interrogated, including those who were not even familiar with Furgal at the time of the acts incriminated to him.

However, on Wednesday, at one point, the judge allowed Furgal to return to the hall to ask questions to one of the witnesses. However, it is not clear whether the ex-governor will be able to do it again.

The defendants also have questions for some jurors. One of them (the one, because of whose marriage the process was postponed for a long time) was awarded a motion for removal for the second time. The reason was a dismissive (as it seemed to Furgal) statement. The ex-governor believes that in this way the people’s judge expressed a negative attitude towards him, which he should not have done under any circumstances under the current legislation.

Furgal has been tense lately. Apparently, the judge is also nervous. How else to explain that he several times called the lawyer Furgal Karapetyan the defendant, and the prosecutor – the lawyer.