Chechen native Magomed Alkhanov sentenced in case on attack on Pskov paratroopers

In Rostov-on-Don, a military court sentenced Magomed Alkhanov, a native of Chechnya, to ten years of imprisonment on the charges of involvement in the attack of a militant detachment led by Shamil Basaev and Amir Khattab on Pskov paratroopers in 2000.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on July 12, it became known that Magomed Alkhanov and two other natives of Chechnya, as well as one native of Dagestan, were transferred from a SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Rostov-on-Don after a hostage-taking. Magomed Alkhanov and the other detainees were not allowed to be visited by advocates. Human rights defenders believe that the suspects were tortured. On August 23, the defence learned that Magomed Alkhanov was accused of organizing an escape from the SIZO.

The Southern District Military Court found Magomed Alkhanov guilty of attempting on the lives of military personnel, inciting abuse of power, and escaping from custody. According to the public prosecutors’ version, in 2000, as a minor, Magomed Alkhanov participated in an attack by militants led by Shamil Basaev and Amir Khattab on Russian military personnel not far from the village of Ulus-Kert in the Shatoi District.

The defence of Magomed Alkhanov claims that he did not participate in the hostilities: there are no scars on his body that would have appeared as a result of injuries. Furthermore, according to the advocate’s sources, Shamil Basaev “would never have taken a minor” into a battle.

The charge of inciting abuse of power and escaping from custody concerns the events of 2021, when, according to the investigators’ version, Magomed Alkhanov bribed an employee of the Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN) and managed to escape from a hospital in the Astrakhan Region.