MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Former Russian Ambassador to Argentina Viktor Coronelli testified in Moscow’s Dorogomilovsky Court on a case of shipment of cocaine from Argentina to Russia and European countries. According to the lawyer of one of the defendants Alexander Kostayants, the diplomat was question without the jury present.
"Today, in accordance with the amended schedule, previously approved by presiding judge Olga Bykovskaya, the prosecution’s witness - former Russian Ambassador to Argentina Viktor Viktorovich Coronelli - was questioned. Contrary to the law and common sense, our applications, non-objectiveness and non-competitiveness, the diplomat testified in the court on substance without participation of the jury, because such questioning [without the jury] is allowed only on characterizing materials. The defendants’ right for defense was thus violated," the lawyer said.
Meanwhile, the diagnosis and the fate of the jurors, who got sick one month ago, remain unknown for the participants of the proceeding "despite the defense’s applications."
"The presence of all participants and their defenders was ensured in full, but the jurors were absent during today’s hearing due to a disease indicated earlier, but we still do not know [their] diagnosis," Kostayants said, adding that Coronelli will continue to testify on February 26.
"After the judge declared a break, we discovered that the main defendant - Andrei Kovalchuk - required medical assistance, although he was ready to continue his participation," the lawyer disclosed.
The court proceeding
Russian Ministry of the Interior’s Investigative Department initiated the criminal case on November 15, 2017. In late February, 2018, Russian Foreign Ministry announced the "12 queens" joint operation of Russian and Argentine law enforcement agencies on thwarting of shipment of a large batch of drugs to the European market. According to the Ministry, the 367 kg of cocaine, discovered in one of the buildings of the Russian embassy in Buenos Aires, belonged to Ali Abyanov - a technical employee of the mission, who had already completed his assignment by that moment. During the investigation, three suspects - Vladimir Kalmykov, Ishtimir Khudjamov and Ali Abyanov - were apprehended in Russia, and two more were apprehended in Argentina. The suspected mastermind, Andrei Kovalchuk, was apprehended in Germany. According to the investigation, the discovered cocaine could cost almost 60 million euro.