Kazakhstan, Astana, July 26 / Trend D. Mukhtarov /
The case of border guard Vladislav Chelakh suspected of killing 15 people in Kazakhstan is being investigated strictly within the law, spokesman for the Kazakh military prosecutor's office told Trend today.
"Chelakh refused to testify," the spokesman said. "This is a procedural right of the accused and one of the ways to protect him."
The Military Prosecutor's Office reported that according to a clause of Article 23 of the Criminal Procedure Code, a criminal procedure is based on the principle of adversarial proceedings and equality of the sides - prosecution and defence.
"The suspect or the accused is free to deny his guilt and plead not guilty, the interlocutor said. "An investigation is underway."
Border guard Vladislav Chelakh denied his testimony yesterday, RIA-Novosti reported referring to Vladislav's aunt Natalya Chelakh.
"I phoned Vladimir - Vladislav's grandfather," she said. "At present, they had spoken with a lawyer. Grandfather told me that Vlad rejected his initial testimony. The details will be announced in the evening."
In late May 14 border guards and one hunter were killed on the Kazakh-Chinese border. Later 19-years old border guard Vladislav Chelakh confessed that he killed his colleagues. Chelakh maintained internal conflicts and clouding of consciousness as the reason of killing his colleagues. An investigation is underway.