On October 4, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case against the exiled Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Akhmed Zakayev, who lives in England. He is accused of organizing a terrorist community.
The reason for the accusation was a video about the creation of a battalion of the Armed Forces of the ChRI, published by Zakayev on YouTube. A separate special-purpose battalion under the command of Murad Yusupov became part of the foreign legion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and will fight against Russian forces in Ukraine.
“Zakayev... called on his supporters to join the illegal armed formation he formed to participate in hostilities on the side of Ukrainian nationalists. And these actions fall under Art. 205.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to which the defendant faces up to 20 years in prison,” the Investigative Committee said.
This is not the first time Akhmed Zakayev has been accused of terrorism. Even 20 years ago, the Russian authorities demanded that he be extradited, but Great Britain granted Zakaev political asylum. In Russia, he was charged with terrorism and murder (Articles 205 and 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), but the London court refused to extradite, considering that he was being persecuted for his political beliefs.
In 2006, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office accused Zakayev of justifying terrorism because he spoke positively about Shamil Basayev. In 2021, the Achkhoy-Martan interdistrict department of the investigative department of the Investigative Committee for Chechnya issued a resolution to initiate a criminal case against Akhmed Zakayev under Part 2 of Art. 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The material was collected by employees of the Center for Combating Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Chechnya. According to them, Zakaev, through his YouTube channel, called for violence against those who “support unity with Russia and those working for this unity.”
Immediately after the start of the “special operation” in Ukraine, Akhmed Zakaev began to actively speak out against it in the Ukrainian media and on his own YouTube channel. He called on the Ukrainian authorities to recognize the independence of Ichkeria, began to visit Kyiv, and regularly records appeals to young Chechens, urging them to sabotage mobilization or desert from the Russian army.
This activity caused a sharp reaction from the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. Perhaps it was he who initiated a new case against Akhmed Zakaev.