CHECHNYA LINKS LIBRARY

Russian soldiers on trial for civilian killings in Chechnya

By Ruslan Isayev

GROZNY, Chechnya – The Grozny military garrison court is investigating several cases against Russian soldiers accused of killing civilians.

Amongst these is the infamous case of V. Chernomaz, a soldier accused of killing Ayub Saltakhanov, a young schoolboy from the village of Dyshne-Vedeno.

On April 17, 2000, a military column entered Dyshne-Vedeno where one of the soldiers pointed his gun at three teenagers passing by. He opened fire on one of them who happened to be Saltakhanov. The boy died enroute to the hospital.

Investigations have been held up for several years so the boy’s father, Movladi Saltakhanov, has taken his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

In spite of numerous eyewitness accounts that it was indeed Chernomaz who fired the shot, the prosecutor insists that the event and the conditions must first be simulated.

For example, in what direction was the serviceman’s gun barrel pointing? Was it indeed possible to hear the shot above the noise of the vehicles’ diesel engines? Was it possible for a shot to have been fired in the direction of the victim? And finally, could it have been caused simply by mishandling the weapon?

The following trial concerns the case of Andrei Tikhonov, a serviceman accused of killing a Chechen named Tukhshayev.

In January of this year Tukhshayev, a private taxi driver, was hired by two soldiers, Tikhonov and Keller; but at the end of the trip they refused to pay him the sum agreed.

An argument broke out, which ended by Tikhonov throwing a hand grenade under Tukhshayev’s legs. The two soldiers jumped out of the car before the grenade exploded but the Chechen died of his injuries several hours later.

Although the defendant confessed during preliminary investigations, he retracted his confession at the trial. The court, therefore, ordered a psychiatric examination and proceedings have been adjourned until the results are announced.

Another investigation is also underway in the case of Sergei Belyaev, a soldier accused of killing Dzhandar Arsanov, a 16-year-old boy living in the village of Kurchaloi. The killing occurred on April 11, 2000.

On that day, a couple of soldiers were in the village when they saw two boys planting onions in a garden. The two brothers, noticing the soldiers, got scared and began to run away, but one of the men, Belayev, opened fire on them, killing Dzhandar.

Although Belyaev was the main suspect in the killing, he was allowed to leave Chechnya after his one year service was completed.

(MG/E,T,B)

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