Court sentences defendants in case of slaughter of soldiers of Pskov airborne troops in Chechnya in 2000 to 13 and 14 years of imprisonment

The Supreme Court of Chechnya sentenced Khamidulla Yapov and Kemal Ebzeev to 14 years of imprisonment, and Rashid Atuov to 13 years of imprisonment on charges of destruction of 84 Pskov soldiers of airborne troops in battles near the village of Ulus-Kert in the Argun Gorge in Chechnya in 2000. This was reported today by the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) in Chechnya.

"The sentence was pronounced at the court hearing held on March 7," reports the statement on the website of the ICRF in Chechnya.

Rashid Atuov, Kemal Ebzeev, and Khamidulla Yapov were accused of committing crimes under Articles "banditry" and "attempt on lives of law enforcement officers".

"The investigators and the court revealed that on February 29, 2000, Atuov, Ebzeev, and Yapov with other members of the illegal armed formation (IAF) led by Khattab, the IAF's leader, in the transition in a wooded area from the Shatoi District to the Vedeno District, attacked military men from the 6^th parachute and airborne company of the 104^th parachute and airborne regiment, which was located near the village of Ulus-Kert of the Shatoi District of the Chechen Republic. During the armed clash, which lasted 16 hours, 84 military men from the 6^th parachute and airborne company of the 104^th parachute and airborne regiment were killed and 4 wounded," the ICRF's statement reports.

At present, the "Caucasian Knot" has no comments of the convicts or their representatives on the sentence pronounced. However, earlier, the lawyers claimed that the investigators used illegal methods in collecting testimony of witnesses in the case.