DUBAI, United Arab Emirates.
A Dubai court convicted two men Monday for their role in the assassination of a former Chechen warlord last year and sentenced each to 25 years in prison. The two men, an Iranian and a Tajik, were each handed life sentences after being found guilty of aiding and abetting the assassination of Sulim Yamadayev. A life term is limited to 25 years under local law. The men will be deported after serving their sentences. State news agency WAM identified the Iranian defendant as Mahdi Tagi Dhurnia and the Tajik national as Mahsoudjan Asmanov. Four other suspects are believed to have fled the United Arab Emirates.
The Chechen's killing in a beachfront parking lot in March 2009 stunned Dubai authorities as the first major political assassination in the Gulf city-state. It came just months after another contract killing, of Lebanese pop star Suzanne Tamim, in a luxury high-rise apartment in the emirate.
Both those high-profile killings have since been eclipsed by the slaying of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh by a hit squad in January. Thatcase, involving multiple suspects carrying fraudulent passports widely suspected of ties to Israel's Mossad secret service, has strengthened Dubai's image as a city of international intrigue. Nonetheless, local officials have been eager to portray the emirate - long a favorite haven for exiled leaders and others unwelcome at home - as a safe and secure city, where crime is low compared to much of the West.
Yamadayev was a former Chechen warlord who switched sides in the conflicts between Chechen rebels and the Russian government. He later fell out of favor with Chechnya's Kremlin-allied president Ramzan Kadyrov and left the country, making his way to Dubai, where he lived under a different name. He was gunned down March 28 last year in an audacious daytime slaying. Dubai police say four other suspects were also involved, including Adam Delimkhanov, a Russian parliament deputy and close ally of Kadyrov. Delimkhanov has denied the allegations.
According to court documents, the Iranian defendant was accused of passing a gun to the alleged shooter, while the Tajik defendant provided information to the assassins and later helped two of them flee the country. Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the murder-related charges at their arraignment in August.
Defense lawyers for the two men claimed in court that police failed to produce strong enough evidence against their clients and mishandled the investigation by not thoroughly questioning Yamadayev's bodyguards and others in his entourage.
Källa: AP
DUBAI — A Dubai court jailed two men for life on Monday for assisting in the killing of Sulim Yamadayev, a prominent foe of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.
Yamadayev, one of Kadyrov's top commanders until he fled Chechnya in 2008, was shot dead on March 28 last year in the underground car park of a luxury apartment block in Dubai with a gold-plated Makarov handgun. Dubai police have accused a cousin of Kadyrov, State Duma Deputy Adam Delimkhanov, of masterminding the killing. Delimkhanov has denied involvement. Russian analysts said Yamadayev's death, one of a string of recent high-profile killings in Dubai, removed one of the last remaining powerful opponents of Kadyrov's increasingly strong control over Chechnya.
Makhsood Jan Asmatov of Tajikistan and Mehdi Taqi Dahuria of Iran were both convicted of aiding and abetting the murder. Dahuria had been accused of monitoring Yamadayev from his arrival at Dubai's airport to his house and providing his address and the murder weapon to the killers. Prosecutors said Asmatov also monitored Yamadayev. Dahuria's lawyer said he would appeal. Dahuria was a horse trainer for Kadyrov's racehorses in Dubai.
Yamadayev fought against Russia in the first Chechen war of 1994-1996 in which Moscow suffered a humiliating defeat. After changing sides together with Kadyrov, he became the commander of the Vostok battalion, consisting of battle-hardened former rebels who played a key role in subduing large-scale armed resistance to Russian rule. In 2005 Yamadayev was named a "Hero of Russia." Yamadayev challenged Kadyrov for control of the local security forces until 2008, when he was dismissed from his command post and forced to flee. He was the fifth Chechen living abroad to be killed in the space of six months.
Four other suspects in the case are wanted by Dubai police, including Delimkhanov, who has been a Duma deputy with the United Russia party since 2007. Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Delimkhanov last year, although Russia's Constitution bans the extradition of Russian nationals for crimes committed abroad. In 2008, Yamadayev's brother Ruslan, also a former commander in Chechnya, was gunned down in a busy central Moscow street. Kadyrov at the time denied involvement and said the killers wanted to discredit him and destabilize Chechnya.
Källa: Reuters