Native of Dagestan loses cassation in terrorism case

The cassation instance has upheld the sentence to a native of Dagestan, sentenced to 11 years in prison for trying to convince his acquaintances to commit terror acts.

The Supreme Court (SC) of Russia has upheld the sentence to Yusup Omarov, 23, a native of the village of Ibragimotar, convicted within a case of inciting terrorist activities, the "Kavkaz.Realii"* project reports.

According to the verdict, in late 2018 and early 2019, in Moscow, Yusup Omarov persuaded two acquaintances to commit a terror act. In the cassation complaint, his defence asked to recognize the testimony of one of the witnesses as inadmissible proof, "because the defence has reason to believe that he had been recruited by special services as an agent to identify adherents of radical religious views and is interested in the outcome of this case."

The defence has also stated that at trial another secret prosecution witness was assisted to answer questions by some unknown persons. Besides, both witnesses stated that the defendant had told them nothing specific, while other witnesses confirmed that he had no radical views. Also, during the search of Omarov, no items indicating his involvement in terrorism were found.

The SC has found the defence's arguments unconvincing.