Chechnya releases Aslan Maskhadov's associate Vakhid Murdashev

After Vakhid Murdashev, a former associate of Aslan Maskhadov, had left a penal colony, he was detained by law enforcers. The man was not released until several days had passed, his fellow villagers report today.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 9, it became known that Vakhid Murdashev, who was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in 2005, was released and returned to his relatives in the village of Oiskhara (also known as Novogrozny) in the Gudermes District.

Vakhid Murdashev, "a brigadier general of Ichkeria," was detained after a special operation conducted on March 8, 2005, in the village of Tolstoi-Yurt in the Grozny District. On December 1, 2005, Vakhid Murdashev was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment for allegedly participating in an illegal armed formation (IAF), organizing armed rebellion, and illegal carrying of weapons.

After Vakhid Murdashev, a former associate of Aslan Maskhadov, had left a penal colony, he was detained by law enforcers, a relative of Vakhid Murdashev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "Literally on the same day when Vakhid returned from prison, law enforcers took him away with them. No one tells us why and on what grounds they took him away," the relative of Vakhid Murdashev said.

The law enforcement bodies informed relatives that they were taking Vakhid Murdashev "for a conversation," the "Kavkaz.Realii" reported on March 13. "He has been kept at a law enforcers' place for the fourth day already. The relatives are assured that he is not beaten and not tortured and that law enforcers just talk to him. What can you talk about with a person for such a long time? The relatives themselves are very scared," the "Kavkaz.Realii" quoted its source as saying.

Today, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been told by Ramzan, a fellow villager of Vakhid Murdashev, that Vakhid was not released until several days had passed.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 18, 2020 at 03:46 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.