Lawyers for Tsarnayev's Kazakh friends demand that court lift ban on disclosure of case materials
ALMATY. Oct 30 (Interfax) - A court hearing of the case involving Kazakh students charged with plotting to obstruct justice in the investigation of the terrorist attack at the Boston marathon has been held in the United States.
During the hearing, the defense lawyers, the prosecutor, and the judge had a serious argument about the confidentiality of the case materials, Arkady Bukh, a lawyer for one of the accused, told Interfax in a phone conversation on Wednesday.
In particular, the defense lawyers demanded that the court lift the ban on the disclosure of the case materials, which was imposed for a number of reasons, including the secrecy of the investigation, which the lawyer said has already been completed.
"We want to tell people the truth. The prosecutors said there will be no truth," the lawyer said, reiterating that the defense lawyers only wanted to show documents stating what the students did for several minutes.
Bukh also said that Azamat Tazhayakov, whom he is defending, has always said that he "loves America and opposes jihad."
The lawyer said the case would most likely be tried by a jury in several months and the next hearing of the case was scheduled for January 15.
Brothers Johar Tsarnayev and Tamerlan Tsarnayev are suspected of having carried out the Boston marathon terrorist attack on April 15. The attack killed three people and injured over 180 people. Johar was later detained and Tamerlan was killed by police.
Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, students from Kazakhstan, are accused of having thrown away Johar Tsarnayev's laptop and rucksack containing fireworks, which were later found by special services in a dumpster. They are facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the charges.