Kommersant

INCIDENTS

Two to be prosecuted for the murder of 246 people

The case of the apartment bombings is finished

terrorism

Yusuf Krymshamkhalov and Adam Dekkushev will stand trial when they finish reading their multi-volume case

Yesterday, the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia announced the completion of the investigation into a series of terrorist attacks committed in the fall of 1999 in Moscow and Volgodonsk. Only two terrorists—Yusuf Krymshamkhalov and Adam Dekkushev—will stand trial, which will most likely take place in closed session on the territory of a pre-trial detention center (SIZO).

As the investigation claimed, the explosions, which claimed the lives of more than 200 people, were carried out by members of Achimez Gochiyayev's group, who called themselves "Mu- [...]"

[...] Yusuf Krymshamkhalov was responsible for the [lethal] cargo in the group. He met Gochiyayev back in 1997 at a militant camp in the Chechen village of Serzhen-Yurt. Krymshamkhalov, who was born and raised in the Stavropol Territory, had good connections with local law enforcement: one of the employees of the Stavropol prosecutor's office was a distant relative, and an officer of the Kislovodsk GAI (traffic police), Stanislav Lyubichev, was a friend. It was Lyubichev [...]

[...] [the cargo] was met by Achimez Gochiyayev, who registered at the "Altai" hotel using a passport in the name of Laipanov. Then the hexogen was transported in "Gazelle" vans to three addresses—Guryanova Street, Kashirskoye Highway, and Borisovskiye Prudy. On September 9 and 13, 1999, of the three explosions planned by the terrorists, two occurred, claiming the lives of 228 people. Another explosives warehouse in a basement with timers already running was successfully discovered [...]

Ruslan Magayaev, and in March 2000, almost the entire Krymshamkhalov group—namesakes Aslan and Murat Bastanov, Muratbi Bayramukov, Muratbi Tuganbaev, and Achimez Gochiyayev's brother-in-law Taikan Frantsuzov. They were sentenced by the Stavropol Regional Court to prison terms ranging from 9 to 15 years. Gochiyayev, Krymshamkhalov, and Dekkushev hid in the Pankisi Gorge of Georgia. The rest fled to Chechnya.

Interrogation Record (Fragment)

As a result of the explosion, property belonging to my family was damaged:
* furniture — 38,000 rubles;
* household appliances — 6,500 rubles;
* curtains — 6,000 rubles;
* dishes, electrical appliances — 4,500 rubles.

The total amount of damage was 55,000 (fifty-five thousand) rubles.

In addition, minor bodily injuries were caused: cuts from glass shards, abrasions, but neither I nor my relatives sought medical help and there are no forensic medical examination (SME) reports.

Recorded from my words correctly, read by me.

Interrogated by: [signature]
Signature: [signature]

TRUE COPY
Investigator: Romanovsky V.V.

Investigation Update

• He was released from "Lefortovo," where he spent nine months, on his own recognizance and has already managed to testify in court regarding traffic police officer Lyubichev.
• Yusuf Krymshamkhalov's uncle, Musa, in whose warehouse the explosive mixture was stored, could also have ended up in the dock.
• However, after several interrogations, he died — according to the official version, of a heart attack.

According to FSB officers who carried out operational support for the investigation, Dekkushev and Krymshamkhalov actively cooperated with the investigation.

Trial Update

• Thanks to testimony, it was possible to expose the policeman Lyubichev and track down other accomplices of the terrorists.
• The trial will begin once the main defendants familiarize themselves with the case materials, which take up several dozen volumes.
• The state prosecution is expected to be represented by the Prosecutor General of Russia, Vladimir Ustinov, who handled a similar task at last year's trial of Salman Raduev.
• Participants in the investigation stated that none of the members of Achimez Gochiyayev's group had "personal scores with Russia"; neither they nor their relatives suffered during the hostilities in Chechnya and Dagestan, and they were not persecuted for political or religious beliefs.

Legal Proceedings

• A lawyer stated, "did not write this statement himself."
• At the end of his speech, he called all the witness testimony in the case contradictory and unconfirmed by anything.
• Leonid Lyubimov concluded, "We have Lyubichev's testimony, which has not been refuted by anything."
• He asked the court to acquit his client under Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Abuse of official powers") for lack of ?klzzwxh:0000?, arguing that "there is no causal link between the passage of the 'KamAZ' through the post in Kislovodsk and the bombings in Moscow."
• He also asked for acquittal under Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Bribe-taking") due to lack of evidence.

Next Steps

• The presiding judge scheduled Stanislav Lyubichev's final statement and the announcement of the verdict for May 14.

ALEKSANDRA LARINTSEVA, Kislovodsk