The defense called the sentence of an Abkhaz resident for publications about Basayev unfounded.

A Russian court groundlessly sentenced Timur Agrba to prison because his publications contained no justification of terrorism, but rather references to Shamil Basayev as an officially recognized hero of Abkhazia, the defense argued.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on March 17, a court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced 37-year-old Abkhazian resident Timur Agrba to 5.5 years in prison, finding him guilty of publicly justifying terrorism (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code).

Most of the publications about Shamil Basayev for which Timur Agrba was convicted had no connection to Shamil Basayev's actions in Russia, the convicted man's lawyer, Victoria Novikova, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The court ignored these arguments.

"There were ten posts mentioning Shamil Basayev as a hero of Abkhazia, and only one of them, along with information about Abkhazia, also included descriptions of actions in the Russian Federation. The defense pointed out the illegality of including in the indictment information about the glorification of Shamil Basayev in relation to Abkhazia, since he is indeed a hero [of Abkhazia], which is confirmed by the official response from the Abkhazian authorities. However, the court ignored these arguments," she said.

Also, according to Novikova, the court groundlessly cited publications made on a Telegram channel about relations between Russia and Abkhazia in the verdict. "This does not justify terrorism in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation," the lawyer explained.

According to the defense, these publications should have been excluded from the charges. Novikova emphasized that she will definitely appeal the verdict.

Victoria Novikova added that Agrba was not charged with his own publications, but with reposts from other sources, and their authors were not prosecuted.

The lawyer also refuted information spread by some online resources that Timur Agrba was allegedly hiding from the Abkhaz authorities in Russia before his arrest.

"He wasn't hiding from anyone, he simply went to Sochi to buy printer ink and was detained at the border allegedly on charges of resisting a police officer," she said. According to the lawyer, Agrba's family had no contact with anyone either before or after his arrest. was subjected to pressure from the authorities.

The Russian side considers the status of Hero of Abkhazia incompatible with terrorist activity.

It should be recalled that representatives of the Russian authorities have previously shown signs of binary thinking when faced with the demonstration of Basayev's status as Hero of Abkhazia.

Thus, in September 2024, a portrait of Shamil Basayev with the caption "Hero of Abkhazia" became an exhibit at the State Museum of Abkhazia. This provoked indignation among representatives of the Russian embassy: they stated that they consider the display of a portrait of a terrorist unacceptable.

A similar position was voiced by the Human Rights Commissioner for North Ossetia, Tamerlan Dzgoev. Addressing his Abkhaz counterpart, he stated that Abkhazia must Strip Shamil Basayev of his honorary titles and state awards, since "glorifying the personality of a bloody murderer" is unacceptable "in a civilized society."

Museum staff, commenting on the Russian side's claims, noted that they would remove the portrait "only after a court decision or after Basayev is stripped of his title of Hero of Abkhazia." However, the Abkhazian Defense Minister insisted on closing the exhibition, and the photos of the five Heroes of Abkhazia, including Basayev, were archived.