Debates on the murder of Sheikh Said-Afandi Chirkeysky were held

As Kommersant has learned, the Supreme Court of Dagestan hosted a debate between the parties in one of the most high-profile criminal cases of recent years - a terrorist attack carried out by a Russian suicide bomber who converted to Islam, which resulted in the death of the most influential religious figure, Sheikh Said-Afandi Chirkeysky. For three participants in the preparation of the terrorist attack, the state prosecution requested life sentences. Defenders of the accused, in turn, claim that confessions were extorted from them.

The trial in the case of a terrorist attack in the house of Said Atsayev (the most influential Dagestani sheikh, known as Said Afandi Chirkeysky) began in September last year. Three organizers and perpetrators of the crime appeared in court. The fourth defendant, like one of those accused of the terrorist attack, was charged with participation in the kidnapping of a person.

According to the Investigative Committee, Shikhmirza Labazanov, Magomedali Amirkhanov, Magomed Gadzhiev and Akhmed Israpilov were part of the group of former qadi (Sharia judge) Magomed Suleymanov from the village of Gimry, Untsukul district of the republic. To finance their activities, investigators concluded, gang members racketeered entrepreneurs and took hostages both in Dagestan itself and in other regions.

Thus, on July 22, 2010, in the village of Shamilkala, Untsukul district of Dagestan, Shikhmirza Labazanov, Akhmed Israpilov and their accomplices kidnapped the chief engineer of Sulak Hydropower Cascade OJSC, Vladimir Redkin, and demanded a ransom. The prisoner was released two months later ("persons not identified by the investigation" paid 15 million rubles for his release). In January 2012, near the village of Nikolo-Khovanskoye, Leninsky district, Moscow region, gang members took businessman Yuri Surlevich hostage, expecting to receive 500 million rubles for his release. However, the prisoner, taking advantage of the carelessness of the guards, freed himself, while wounding two members of the group, Shamil and Makhulav Sidikbekov (they were later sentenced by the Moscow Regional Court to 16 and 13 years in prison) with their own machine gun.

The most notorious crime was committed by the accused on August 28, 2012. Magomed Gadzhiev, Shikhmirza Labazanov and Magomedali Amirkhanov took part in the training of suicide bomber Aminat Saprykina (Kurbanova), a Russian who converted to Islam. They ensured her secret residence (in Gadzhiev’s house) and movement before committing the terrorist attack, then Magomedali Amirkhanov and Magomed Gadzhiev took Aminat Saprykina in their car to the village of Komsomolskoye, Kizilyurt district. From there, she took a taxi to the village of Chirkey and, under the guise of a pilgrim, went to the sheikh’s house, where she committed a suicide bombing, which killed the sheikh and six other people.

During the debate between the parties, state prosecutor Mikhail Reznichenko asked that the three participants in the preparation of the terrorist attack in the sheikh's house - Shikhmirza Labazanov, Magomedali Amirkhanov and Magomed Gadzhiev - be sentenced to life imprisonment. The defendant Akhmed Israpilov, who took part in the kidnapping of Vladimir Redkin, according to the state prosecutor, should be sentenced to 15 years of strict regime.

Lawyer Rinat Gamidov asked the court to acquit Shikhmirza Labazanov under Art. 205 (terrorism) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The only evidence of his client’s guilt in the case, according to the lawyer, was the suicide bomber’s phone found at the scene of the terrorist attack, as well as the transcript of her SMS correspondence with the accused Labazanov, presented by FSB officers. There is no other evidence confirming that the defendant knew about the true intentions of the suicide bomber. “But if this is the only evidence, then it must be impeccable,” the lawyer said. However, the phone itself turned out to be somehow lost by the investigative authorities. And the information presented by the FSB officers, the lawyer is convinced, is “untrue, in reality there was no SMS correspondence.” In addition, Mr. Gamidov drew the court’s attention to the decision of the Supreme Court of Dagestan dated August 20, 2012 on permission to conduct operational search activities against Shikhmirza Labazanov. “That is, at least a few weeks before the terrorist attack, Labazanov came to the attention of FSB officers, and they had already established his involvement in terrorist crimes. His phones were tapped. And at the same time, he freely transports suicide bombers,” the lawyer said. According to the defense lawyer, the defendant Labazanov can only be found guilty of participation in the gang of Magomed Suleymanov, the kidnapping of Yuri Surlevich, extortion and carrying weapons.

Lawyers for the remaining defendants asked the court to find them innocent - in their opinion, the confessions of the defendants were obtained from them in violation of the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code. The verdict in the case is expected on April 21.

Yulia Rybina, Makhachkala

The suicide bomber was transported under the supervision of the FSB