Russia/Stavropol Krai

08.10.2002

Judicial conveyor for terrorists

Numerous trials in Stavropol are closed to the public

In Pyatigorsk, the permanent session of the Stavropol Krai Court in Kavminvody is simultaneously conducting several trials of Karachay-Cherkess Wahhabis accused of committing terrorist acts and a number of other serious crimes. Notably, all the trials are closed, taking place under heavy guard and in conditions of increased secrecy on the territory of the city's pre-trial detention center. Naturally, information from the courtroom is extremely scarce, as journalists are not allowed into the trial, only occasionally being permitted to attend the sentencing stage.

Last year, in connection with a similar situation at the trials of "Basayevites" in Stavropol, journalists from local publications appealed to the judicial collegium for criminal cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, claiming a violation of their rights. Their main argument was the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code itself, which clearly define the reasons for appointing a closed trial: cases involving minors, sexual crimes, and those concerning state secrets. However, none of these conditions had any relation to those trials.

Today the situation is somewhat different. In the trials held recently in Pyatigorsk against participants in the failed coup d'état in Karachay-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria, according to representatives of the prosecutor's office, serious security measures were taken because during the preliminary investigation, attempts to disrupt the investigation were noticed more than once. In addition, the defendants also appear as witnesses in other crimes, including terrorist acts in Minvody, Essentuki, and the Karachay-Cherkess village of Adyge-Khabl, and the disclosure of investigative materials could harm their investigation and the search for other suspects.

Thanks to these arguments, the criminal case of a coup d'état, unprecedented for Russia, passed almost unnoticed by the public, although during the first trial, 16 people were in the dock at once. For attempting an armed overthrow of power, mutiny, and committing robberies, murders, as well as for participating in illegal armed formations, they received from 3.5 to 15 years of imprisonment.

Even before this sentence was passed, a second trial began in the Pyatigorsk pre-trial detention center, but no longer of ordinary participants, but of the organizers of the armed coup - Khyzyr Salpagarov and his two associates Ramazan Gochiyayev and Eduard Kharatokov, who were subsequently sentenced to 19, 23, and 15 years of imprisonment, respectively. In addition to the armed seizure of power, they were charged with organizing terrorist acts in Stavropol that claimed the lives of dozens of people, as well as inciting racial, national, and religious hatred, public calls for a violent change of the constitutional order, organizing a criminal community, murder, forgery of documents, and illegal possession of firearms.

Legal Proceedings in the North Caucasus

Salpagarov's Sentence

• The 19-year sentence given to Salpagarov, the main organizer of the extremist group, looks questionable due to the seriousness of the charges filed.
• This is especially true since the state prosecutor demanded life imprisonment for the criminals.

Rustam Tlisov's Case

• The series of hearings on cases of armed rebellion and the attempt to create a so-called Islamic caliphate on the territory of two North Caucasian republics continues.
• In the dock is Rustam Tlisov, a 27-year-old native of Karachay-Cherkessia, whose criminal case was previously separated into a separate proceeding due to illness.
• In addition to the attempt to overthrow the government, the defendant is charged with committing a robbery and attempted murder.
• The state prosecutor has already demanded that Tlisov be sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Pyatigorsk Explosions Trial

• Parallel to this trial, another criminal case, very important for many residents of the region, is being considered in the Pyatigorsk detention center.
• This case concerns the explosions at the markets of Stavropol, Nevinnomyssk, and the passenger platform of the railway station in Pyatigorsk, which claimed the lives of 10 people and maimed dozens more.
• Among those accused of organizing these terrorist attacks are:
  • Rustam Arkhagov
  • Vladimir Gogov
  • Ruslan Ionov
  • Viktor Kozlov
  • Ruslan Koichuev
  • Murat Ekzekov
• These individuals hired local residents (homeless people or prostitutes) to plant explosive devices in crowded places, paying them with counterfeit dollars.
• However, this trial is also being held behind closed doors, excluding public oversight of the court's activities.

Said-Magomed Chupalaev's Trial

• In Pyatigorsk, another trial has begun against one of the separatist leaders, the former chief of staff of the militants, an associate of Basaev and Maskhadov, Said-Magomed Chupalaev.
• According to the investigation materials, the 45-year-old native of the village of Alkhazurovo, Urus-Martan district of Chechnya, also known by the nickname Titanic, began his combat path in Abkhazia in 1992.
• Starting from 1996, Titanic held a high position in the headquarters of the Chechen militants and was one of the leaders of Operation "Jihad," during which Grozny was captured in August 1996.
• In the same year, he participated in negotiations with the federal authorities that preceded the signing of the Khasavyurt agreements.
• The field commander did not stay on the sidelines during the second Chechen campaign.
  • In 1999, by order of Aslan Maskhadov, he was appointed chief of staff of the so-called Eastern Front, and then chief of staff of the Central Front, commanded by Shamil Basaev.
• Subsequently, Chupalaev hid in refugee camps in Ingushetia, where he was arrested in March of this year.
• Shortly after his arrest, he called on the militants to return to a peaceful life.
• Perhaps this fact will be recognized by the court as a mitigating circumstance, but it will not exempt him from criminal liability.

Alexander Shapovalov

Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta