Terror suspects go on trial in Russia’s North Ossetia
NORTH OSSETIA, 5 June, Caucasus Times: The Supreme Court of North Ossetia has started considering the case of three suspected members of the gang led by [late Chechen rebel leader] Shamil Basayev. The charges were read out at a session on 5 June. All three are charged with committing a series of terrorist acts in North Ossetia.
According to investigators, Rustam Tsurov, Alikhan Ozdoyev and Umar [Khadziyev] were members of an established armed group set up on the orders of Shamil Basayev and [Chechen rebel leader] Abu Dzeyt. The group operated under the command of the so-called amir – the leader of a criminal group, Issa Kushtov. All of them are from the Kartsa settlement in North Ossetia’s Prigorodnyy District.
Tsurov, Ozdoyev and Khadzhiyev are charged with banditry (Article 209 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code), terrorism (Article 105), planning a crime (Article 30), an attempt on the life of a law-enforcer (Article 317) and illegal trading in arms (Article 222). According to the charges, the main purpose of the criminal group was “to change the constitutional order
and violate the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation”.