Denyakin's case to be reviewed in U.S. in fall

A hearing on the case of Kirill Denyakin murdered in Portsmouth in 2011 will be held in the U.S. on September 14, Tengrinews.kz reports. According to Kirill’s mother, Kazakhstan Justice Ministry’s employees informed the family about the forthcoming hearing. “They called us and said that the appeal will be heard on September 14,” Yelena Denyakina said. “I don’t necessarily have to be at the hearing. But I told them that I would go if needed. At the hearing judges will decide whether to quash the previous ruling that found officer Rankin (the officer who shot Denyakin) inocent or to uphold the ruling. We will continue seeking punishment for the officer,” she said on the phone. Earlier Kazakhstan diplomats in the U.S. hired a new lawyer for Denyakins family and appealed the court’s ruling. 26-year-old Kirill Denyakin, residing in Portsmouth as a participant of the Work and Travel program and working as a cook in a hotel, was shot dead on April 23, 2011 by a police officer, who mistook him for a robber and dubbed the unarmed cook with 11 bullets. On February 10, American court failed to find any grounds to hold Stephen Rankin, the police officer who shot his gun empty at an unarmed person, criminally liable and ruled out that his actions were legal and the shooting was a necessity. It was revealed during the legal proceedings that officer Rankin and Denyakin allegedly knew each other before and had a quarrel over a girl. But neither this fact nor the number of bullets shot was enough proof for the court that the so called accident might have been an premeditated murder. The family claimed $22 million from the Portsmouth police in damages, but the civil court denied the compensation to them. Kazakhstan Foreign Ministry promised to carefully look into possible solutions and fight for justice. By Roza Yessenkulova