The expert examination established that it is impossible to identify the person depicted in the group photographs with Khattab on the FSB website in the "Photo Album" section.
Most of this person's face is hidden by a beard and headgear.
These photographs are not forensically reliable and under no circumstances can be used as evidence.
According to one parameter (proportional ear size), the person in the group photograph with Khattab differs from authentic images of Achimez Gochiyayev.
However, in the expert's opinion, this difference is also insufficient for a definite statement that this person is not Achimez Gochiyayev, due to the inadequacy of the group photographs.
Substance of Achimez Gochiyayev's Testimony
Achimez Gochiyayev confirms that he rented premises for commercial purposes in the basements of the bombed houses, as well as in two other houses where explosions were prevented: in Kapotnya and on Borisov Ponds.
He claims that he was used "blindly" to rent these premises by a person he had known "since school days" and who, in his opinion, was an FSB agent.
According to Achimez Gochiyayev, on the night of September 9, this person tried to lure him to the site of the first explosion under the pretext that a "small fire" had occurred there. However, after learning about the explosion on TV, Achimez Gochiyayev "decided not to go there, but to wait it out".
After the second explosion on September 13, Achimez Gochiyayev realized that he had been "set up" and decided to go into hiding.
Achimez Gochiyayev's most important claim is that it was he who warned the authorities about two other premises, in Kapotnya and on Borisov Ponds, and thereby prevented new terrorist attacks. These warnings, according to his testimony, he relayed by phone to the police, the 911 emergency service, and the ambulance.
Achimez Gochiyayev also denies that he is connected with Shamil Basaev and Khattab, that he underwent training in a camp in Urus-Martan, and that he received financial reward for the explosions.
According to him, he is not the one depicted in the group photographs with Khattab posted on the FSB website.
Achimez Gochiyayev claims that there is an FSB order "not to take him alive", citing information from his relative - a police officer in the city of Karachaevsk.