MOSCOW (Islamweb & News Agencies) - A Russian court sentenced the most important Chechen Resistance leader ever captured by Russian forces to life imprisonment on Tuesday.
After a five-week trial, Salman Raduyev was convicted of leading an armed group, banditry, terrorism, premeditated murder, hostage-taking, organizing explosions and other offences.
Raduyev, who has played no role in the second Chechen war which began in 1999, became one of Russia's most wanted men after leading a raid on the Dagestani town of Kizlyar in 1996, during the first, 1994-96 war in the Caucasian Russian republic.
A son-in-law of the late separatist leader Dzhokhar Dudayev, Raduyev and his group took more than 2,000 people hostage. More than 70 died in a series of battles before the attackers escaped despite a siege and assault by heavily armed Russian commandos.
Television showed Raduyev, seated in a metal cage in the court room and sporting a bushy beard and mirrored sunglasses, listen calmly to the judge who took several hours to read out the 700-page verdict with detailed description of his crimes.
Russian officials have touted the Raduyev trial as a blow against ``terrorism.'' Moscow says there are strong links between Chechen nationalists and Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on the United States.
But Raduyev had long ceased to be a leading figure in the Chechen independence movement by the time of his capture. He was arrested at home.
The sentences were handed down by a three-man panel of judges at the Supreme Court of Dagestan, which borders Chechnya.
Co-accused Turpal-Ali Atgeriyev, a top Chechen nationalist commander and former security minister in the pro-independence Chechen government, was jailed for 15 years. Another defendant, Aslanbek Alkhazurov, was sentenced to eight years in prison
PHOTO CAPTION:
A Russian court sentenced to life imprisonment Salman Raduyev, the most important Chechen Resistance leader ever captured by Russian forces, Itar-Tass news agency reported on December 25, 2001. After a five-week trial Raduyev, shown January 29, 2000, was convicted of leading an armed group, banditry, terrorism, premeditated murder, hostage-taking, organizing explosions and other offences. (Reuters)