Spartak fan murder trial to be held behind closed doors.

MOSCOW, October 13 (Itar-Tass) - The Moscow City Court will hold,
behind closed doors, the trial over the murder of Spartak fan Yuri Volkov
in central Moscow in the summer of 2010. The decision was made by the
presiding judge after the injured parties complained they had been
threatened.
In the beginning of the Wednesday hearing, injured party Domnikov, who
had participated on the fight on the side of Volkov, who was killed, said
defendants Ibragimov and Aidayev had threatened him in the course of the
investigation.
"And then there were telephone threats," he said, "so I would like the
inquest to be held in camera." Domnikov also said he was scared by
numerous relatives and friends of the defendants who had gathered near the
building of the court during preliminary hearings.
"This support group - who are they? They are fixing us with their
eyes. I fear for my life and the life of my relatives," Domnikov
underlined. Second injured party Podoprigora backed his stance, saying
"the defendants' support group is provoking" them.
The prosecutor supported the injured parties' petition and asked the
court to have the trial behind closed doors, amidst categorical objections
by the defense.
"It's simply absurd; nobody is threatening anyone," lawyer Abusupyan
Gaitayev said.
"If the support group is fixing you with their eyes at the exit, what
does holding the trial in camera have to do with it? They can fix you with
their eyes in the street, too," Gaitayev said.
However, the judge ordered to clear the room of the third persons.
"The court rules to consider the criminal case in camera, in
connection with the injured parties' s request to ensure their safety and
the safety of their relatives," the judge said.
A jury will review the case.
Yuri Volkov, 22, was killed in a fight in central Moscow on July 10,
2010. The investigators said two groups of youngsters, numbering three and
eight people, clashed in the Chistye Prudy area. The fight was motivated
by "personal dislike," the police said.
Volkov was fatally stabbed and died in an ambulance. Another two
persons were hospitalized.
Charges were brought against two Chechnya natives: Akhmedpasha Aidayev
(who is accused of murder) and Bekkhan Ibragimov (accused of hooliganism
and malicious infliction of harm to health). Both deny their guilt saying
Spartak fans had dragged them into the fight and that they had had no
knives.
The suspects were checked on polygraph. "I can tell that the results
of the polygraph tests are not in the defendants' favor," a lawyer told
Tass earlier.
At present, the Moscow City Court reviews a similar case over the
murder of Spartak fan Yegor Sviridov on December 6, 2010. That crime
caused a public outcry and resulted in mass disturbances in Moscow's
Manezhnaya Square and other areas of the city.