MOSCOW, November 15 (Itar-Tass) — The Moscow Zamoskvoretsky district court will announce a verdict to professional martial arts fighter Rasul Mirzayev on trial on a criminal case opened into death of student Ivan Agafonov, on November 27, judge Andrei Fedin said on Thursday. The verdict will be read out at 11.00 am Moscow time on November 27, he said.
The state prosecution has demanded to sentence Rasul Mirzayev to two years of restriction of freedom. This form of punishment is considered more lenient than a real prison term administered for such crimes, but at the same time this punishment is more strict than a suspended sentence.
The prosecutor has also asked to change a criminal charge against Mirzayev from "causing intentional harm to the victim which entailed his death" into"inflicting human death through carelessness."
Experts involved in the investigation into the causes of the death of student Ivan Agafonov, who died several days after he received a blow from professional martial arts fighter Rasul Mirzayev, have not found any evidence of guilt of the medical personnel for the student's death, Oksana Mikhalkina, a lawyer for the family of the victim, said before the Moscow Zamoskvoretsky district court began hearings into the case on Thursday.
Experts have made a conclusion that the hospital personnel rendered adequate medical assistance to the victim, which was done properly, the lawyer said. The experts have turned down a version suggested by the defendant's lawyers who claimed that Ivan Agafonov might have died because of improper medical assistance.
At the same time expert examination has not found connection between Mirzayev's blow and Agafonov's death. Four previous expert examinations had not found such connection too.
The expert center under the Justice Ministry, initially charged with the task, was unable to issue a conclusion saying the questions asked by the court were outside of its competence.
In this connection, the expert examination was handed over to personnel of the Russian forensic center under the Public Health Ministry. However, it, too, said it lacked necessary specialists: neurosurgeons, anesthesiologist-resuscitation experts, a specialist in sport medicine, and forensic experts in cranial injuries. The center thus requested the court to consider inviting the above specialists to the expert commission.
Mirzayev, a sambo world and Russia champion, is accused under Article 111, Part 4 /"malicious infliction of serious harm to health which resulted in the victim's death by negligence"/. It envisions a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
On August 15, 2011, Mirzayev and Agafonov had a row near the Garazh nightclub at around 04:00. Mirzayev, "using professional skills and sport training, deliberately delivered one pointed strike with his left hand in Agafonov's face," the case materials said. The student fell and hit his head of the asphalt. In hospital, he slipped into a coma and died three days later. The defendant pleaded not guilty.