| Raduev did not wait for mercy The Supreme Court of Dagestan announced yesterday the verdict against Salman Raduev and his three accomplices in the raid on Dagestan in January 1996. As expected, all four were found completely guilty: Raduev received life imprisonment on more than a dozen charges, including terrorism, banditry, murder with extreme cruelty and hostage-taking, another field commander and former member of the government of Ichkeria, Turpal-ali Atgeriev -- 15 years in a special regime colony. For ordinary militants Khusein Gaisumov and Aslanbek Alkhazurov, the court, taking into account their insignificant role in those tragic events and repentance, showed some leniency and gave sentences that were not the maximum for their articles - 8 and 5 years, respectively.
Just like the entire process, which took just over a month, the verdict for the Raduevites was announced at record speed - 700 pages of the verdict were read in just five hours. The defendants themselves listened to the verdict calmly, and only when the end of the trial was announced did they fill the hall with cheerful cries of “Allahu Akbar!” Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov, who personally supported the prosecution at the trial, greeted the end of the trial with satisfaction, telling reporters that “justice has triumphed” and “sooner or later the rest of the gang leaders will find themselves in the dock.”
It is noteworthy that despite the obviously preconceived schedule, the authorities continued to “polish” the created scheme during the trial, and the word “justify” suddenly flashed in the verdict. As it turned out, the court, and at the request of the prosecution, actually acquitted all four defendants, including Raduev, under the article “participation in illegal armed groups.” But this was explained purely by legal subtleties, since the concepts of “banditry” and “illegal armed groups”, which implied the creation of a group that captured Kizlyar and Budennovsk, simply duplicated each other. Victor PAUKOV |
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