There has been an important appellate ruling in a Russian court-martial case. A soldier who was accused of fraud and injuring himselfr (with mines!) had his conviction overturned because the trial proceeded without his chosen defense counsel. A lawyer provided by the army defended him instead. OC Media's Elizaveta Chukharova writes that "[t]he appellate court overturned the verdict, announced on 12 November 2025, citing procedural violations: [Nikolai] Khozumov had not been allowed to participate in the hearing with a lawyer of his choosing. Khozumov has been sent back to pre-trial detention awaiting a new trial."
The appellate court later overturned the verdict, citing a violation of the right to defence. The ruling states that the court refused to postpone the hearing despite the defendant’s relatives having retained a lawyer who was unable to attend at the scheduled time. Instead, the court appointed a state lawyer. The appellate court found this to be a procedural violation and ordered a retrial.
The appellate ruling also outlines other aspects of the case. In particular, the defence insisted on changing the preventive measure of pre-trial detention for Khozumov. In the appeal, the lawyer argued that the court of first instance had not presented sufficient evidence that the defendant might try to evade justice or obstruct the investigation.
The defence pointed to the suspect’s permanent residence, employment, positive character references, and lack of a criminal record. The lawyer also stated that the foreign trips cited by the court were related to business activities. However, the appellate court found these arguments unconvincing and upheld the measure of pre-trial detention.
No word yet on the outcome of the retrial.
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