Chelakh’s lawyer: at the border post there were found 18 bodies, not 15

Vladislav Chelakh and his lawyer Serik Sarsenov © IA “Novosti-Kazakhstan”Taldy-Korgan. November 20. Serik Sarsenov, the lawyer of the border guard Vladislav Chelakh accused of killing 15 fellow militarymen at Arkankergen border post, states that at the site of an occurrence there were found 18 bodies and not 15.

“I officially confirm that at the scene there were discovered 18 bodies and not 15,” said Sarsenov to the reporters Tuesday during the court session break.

According to the lawyer this information is contained in the criminal case files.

“Three more bodies have not been identified and the information is kept secret. But these facts have not been reflected neither in formal notice of the charges against the defendant, nor in the accusation letter. Howtheyaregoingtoreviewthecase. Idon’tknow. There are 18 bodies and they are accusing only on the basis of 15?” – wonders the lawyer.

He said: (quote) “all my statements will be confirmed during the court investigation by concrete files of the case”.

Sarsenov also challenged both – the judge Erbol Akhmetzhanov and the prosecutor Dastan Sekenov. In his opinion, the prosecutor is personally and directly interested in creating hindrance to the just resolution of the case and the lawyer is not taking any actions for conducting the trial within the framework of the law. But his both petitions were declined by the court.

Massacre at Arkankergen temp border post with China took place in May. When the post stopped to respond to radio calls, the “Sary Bokter” border squad was sent to the scene, where they found15 bodies in the burnt-out wreckage of the border post.

Vladislav Chelakh, the sole survivor of the tragedy, was found sheltering in the huntsman's hut, confessed to killing his fellow servicemen and the huntsman, but later retracted the confession saying it was made under psychological pressure. In October, he tried to hang himself in a detention centre but was saved.

At the court hearings Chelakh said that the border post had come under attack.

Sergey Pechurkin, the director of Tas Tau hunting farm, who is connected to the investigation as the witness, excluded the case of border post being attacked by the Chinese, which was one of the versions of the investigation team.

WKT citing IA Novosti-Kazakhstan