CHECHNYA LINKS LIBRARY

Russian OMON officer sentenced to 11 years in prison

By Timur Aliyev

GROZNY, Chechnya – Lieutenant Sergei Lapin, of the Russian special police OMON, who was last week found guilty of beating and torturing a Grozny resident, was on Tuesday sentenced to eleven years in prison.

Four years ago Lapin was attached to the military command post in the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny where he illegally arrested the 22-year-old Zelimkhan Murdalov and severely beat him into unconsciousness. The next day Lapin put him in a car and drove him away; since that time nothing has been seen or heard of him.

In a court trial that lasted over a year, Lapin was found guilty on March 24. The final statement he made at that time, “my fellow officers urged me to run away, but I stayed, confident of my innocence” added nothing to his defense and he was found guilty on all three counts: exceeding his official duties; causing grievous bodily injuries; and falsifying the facts.

Lapin’s lawyer, Grigory Degtyarev, will appeal the verdict in the Supreme Court of the Chechen Republic as he believes the second and third counts are covered by amnesty.

(MG/E,T)

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