Natives of Chechnya to be tried for participation in death of Pskov paratroopers without evidence
A criminal case against natives of Chechnya Rasul Koshmanbetov and Arslan Taushev has been filed with the Southern District Military Court. They are accused of attacking Pskov paratroopers during the second Russian-Chechen war. The defendants have reported torture and falsification of the case.
According to investigators, both men participated in the second Russian-Chechen war on the side of field commander Khattab. In 1999, they allegedly attacked servicemen of the sixth parachute company of the 104th regiment of the 76th Pskov Airborne Division as part of a detachment.
Koshmanbetov and Taushev claim that they were not members of any illegal armed groups and did not participate in battles, and they are being retried for studying at the "Islamic Institute of the Chechen Republic "Caucasus"." All the prosecution's evidence is based on the testimony of a secret witness. In 2015, the defendants in the case were found guilty by the Supreme Court of Chechnya of participating in an illegal armed group for studying at the "Islamic Institute of the Chechen Republic "Caucasus"." Both defendants pleaded not guilty.
According to Taushev, during the investigation, the "necessary" testimony was beaten out by torture. Then the men were sentenced to eight years in prison. They met only in the pretrial detention center and did not know each other before.
