Det var i januari 2009 som den avhoppade Umar Israilov mördades i Wien. Han hade berättat att han personligen hade bevittnat hur den tjetjenska ledaren Ramzan Kadyrov hade deltagit i mord och tortyr och kände sig hotad. Trots att han bad de österrikiska myndigheterna om skydd så fick han inte det, och sedan mördades han. Tidigt insåg utredarna att spåren ledde till presidentpalatset i Grozny och det skall de tydligen försöka bevisa i rättegången. Den inleddes idag med närvaro bl a av Israilovs änka.
Här mera kommentarer från AP:
VIENNA. An Austrian human rights lawyer and others on Monday blamed the slaying of a Chechen refugee on the president of the southern Russian republic and expressed hope that an upcoming trial will help prosecute him. Umar Israilov, 27, was shot dead on a street in Vienna in January 2009. Austrian investigators and activists have alleged the killing was linked to Israilov's opposition to Chechnya's pro-Kremlin leader, Ramzan Kadyrov. In August, prosecutors charged three men in the slaying but said there was not enough evidence to charge Kadyrov.
The trial starts Tuesday. Before the proceedings, Vienna lawyer Nadja Lorenz said she and her supporters will present evidence linking the defendants to Kadyrov, known for his strong-arm rule. "This will lay the foundation for holding Kadyrov accountable later - that's what we're working toward," said Lorenz alongside other human rights proponents. "We have to use whatever legal means we have to stop the torturers of this world." The accused - being held in pretrial custody in the Austrian capital - have been charged with, among other things, accessory to murder when an attempt to kidnap Israilov went awry. A fourth man who fired the fatal shots is at large.
This spring, Austrian investigators concluded that Kadyrov - a former Chechen separatist rebel known for his strongman rule - ordered the kidnapping of Israilov. At the time, the Vienna public prosecutor's office said the findings were based on circumstantial evidence including a photograph of Kadyrov and the main defendant, identified as Otto Kaltenbrunner, that was found on Kaltenbrunner's cell phone. (*) The prosecutor's office also confirmed at the time that investigators had found a connection between Kaltenbrunner and Shaa Turlayev, a close adviser to the Chechen leader.
According to the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, Israilov - who was the father of four children - had reported that he had been repeatedly tortured by Kadyrov and had served as a chief witness in court proceedings against Russia before the European Court of Human Rights. His accounts had also formed the basis of a criminal complaint against Kadyrov on charges of torture and attempted duress filed by Austrian lawyers in June 2008.
Lorenz and Wolfgang Kaleck, secretary general of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, criticized Austrian authorities for not granting Israilov police protection although he had asked for it. "Austrian authorities disregarded the European and international dimension of this case from the very beginning," Kaleck said, adding that "much remains to be clarified."
Heinz Patzelt, head of Austria's chapter of Amnesty International, said he saw the trial as a key chance to establish evidence against Kadyrov that could then be used as a "very important jigsaw piece" in other, larger proceedings against him. "There's an enormous responsibility on the judge, on the jury, on the public prosecutor, to raise the right questions and to give very brave answers," Patzelt said.
Källa: Veronika Oleksyn, AP.
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