MOSCOW, June 5 (RAPSI) – Defense of Yusup Temerkhanov, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of retired Colonel Yury Budanov, turned to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), attorney Daria Trenina told RAPSI.

The sentence took effect on May 7, 2013. The attorneys asked to vacate the judgment and remand the case for a new trial.

“We filed a complaint against violation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights guaranteeing the right to a fair trial,” Trenina said.  Earlier, the defense filed a complaint against violation of Article 3 which prohibits torture of detainees, she added.

Budanov was convicted of war crimes in Chechnya in July 2003. A military court found him guilty of abuse of power in connection with the kidnapping and the murder of 18-year-old Chechen Elza Kungayeva. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and deprived of his rank, his medals and the chance to hold official positions for three years after his release.

In January 2009, he was released on parole. In June 2011, Budanov was shot dead as he walked out of a notary office in Moscow.

According to investigators, Temerkhanov shot Budanov eight times. They believed that Temerkhanov planned the murder after his father was killed in Chechnya in 2000. They suspect that he picked Budanov as his victim because the colonel had been tried for kidnapping and killing Kungayeva in 2000.

Criminal cases on charges of bribing a witness and obstructing justice have been initiated against one of Temerkhanov’s attorneys Murad Musayev. Investigators allege that he has bribed two witnesses while preparing his defense of Temerkhanov. The bribes were allegedly intended to convince the witnesses to give false testimonies at trial.