03 July 2019, 23:43
Case of eight Dagestanis killed in Chechnya sent to court
The Prosecutor's Office of Chechnya has sent the case of eight residents of Dagestan, who, according to law enforcers, had prepared a terror act and were killed in a shootout, to the Supreme Court of Chechnya. The casualties' relatives insist on the trial to be held Dagestan, Andrei Sabinin, a lawyer of the "Agora" International Human Rights Group, has stated.
According to law enforcers' version, on October 9, 2016, during a shootout on the Gerzel-Engel-Yurt highway in the Gudermes District of Chechnya, eight alleged militants were killed and four policemen were wounded. The Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) then stated that all the casualties were members of the same grouping and had planned terror acts. In April 2017, the Chechen Prosecutor's Office reported violations during the investigation of the case.
"Andrei Sabinin, an 'Agora' advocate, will for the first time defend his dead clients," Pavel Chikov, the head of the "Agora", wrote in his Telegram channel.
Representatives of the casualties' relatives ask the Supreme Court of Russia to consider the case in Dagestan, since they all live in this region, Mr Sabinin reported in his Telegram channel.
"According to law enforcers, the young people were on their way to Chechnya where they intended to commit a terror act, but were stopped and liquidated. Two vehicles, in which the Dagestanis allegedly travelled, were burned down together with the passengers ... However, the policemen, who received minor wounds, suddenly collectively lost their memory; and no traces of explosives were found on their clothes," Andrei Sabinin wrote.
The investigation was resumed at relatives' request, as they insisted on the casualties' innocence, Vadim Vinogradov, another lawyer, has reminded.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 3, 2019 at 07:31 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
