Participants in the attack on Dagestan in 1999 have been sentenced to long terms.

The Supreme Court of Dagestan has sentenced four members of armed groups from the Stavropol Krai for an attack on the lives of military personnel, who entered the Botlikh district of the republic in 1999.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", law enforcement regularly reports on the criminal prosecution of alleged participants in the groups of Shamil Basayev and Khattab. Thus, in mid-April, law enforcement reported the detention of three individuals in the Astrakhan and Moscow regions. Two of them were charged in the case of the raid of Basayev's militants on Dagestan.

According to the court, in August 1999, in the Botlikh district of Dagestan, the defendants, participating in armed formations under the leadership of Shamil Basayev and Khattab, carried out an armed attack on Russian Armed Forces personnel using machine guns, automatic rifles, grenade launchers, and mortars.

"The court agreed with the opinion of the state prosecutor regarding the guilt of the members of the formations and sentenced them to imprisonment for a term of 13 to 19 years," the court's message is quoted by "Interfax".

The case was investigated on the grounds of participation in a gang 1 , armed rebellion 2 , and an attack on the lives of law enforcement officers 3 .

"The court also partially satisfied the civil claims of the victims for compensation for moral damage. The verdict has not entered into legal force and can be appealed," the press release notes.

According to the criminal case card on the court's website, the names of the defendants who were convicted under the specified articles are concealed. The case was submitted for consideration on April 18, 2023, and the guilty verdict was delivered today by Judge Satibalov.

In recent years, 37 participants in the attack by Basayev's and Khattab's units on the 6th company of Pskov paratroopers in Chechnya in 2000 have been convicted, according to the Center for Public Relations (CPR) of the FSB of Russia, TASS-Caucasus reports.

Criminal cases regarding participation in Basayev's and Khattab's gangs are similar and often fabricated, said lawyer Narine Ayrapetyan to "Caucasian Knot". "The witnesses are the same everywhere. Usually, five witnesses are taken – three secret witnesses and two open ones," she said.

Ayrapetyan emphasized that cases are fabricated even against the innocent. "When people did not participate, but under threat, including torture, others are forced to testify against them. For example, one of my clients, who is serving a sentence in the Ulyanovsk region, told me that he is being pressured to give testimony about the events of 1999 against people he did not know before," the lawyer said.

In 2019, Vladimir Putin signed a law granting the status of combat veterans to militia members from Dagestan who fought against militants in 1999, along with rights to monthly payments and material benefits. About 28,000 people were included in the list of candidates, but only 520 received certificates, and most of those who actually fought were not included, members of veteran organizations stated in December 2020.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that the court sentenced Arslan Taushiev and Rasul Koshmanbetov to long terms, considering them participants in the attack on Pskov paratroopers in 2000 in Chechnya. The defendants refused to admit guilt.