MOSCOW, November 22 (Itar-Tass) — The prosecutor demands 15 years in prison for Ilyas Saidov, who is accused of masterminding a terrorist act on the Red Square on December 31, 2010. Public Prosecutor Natalia Troshkina asked the Moscow City Court for this sentence during the court hearings.
Meanwhile, Saidov’s lawyer asked to take into account all mitigating circumstances in a court verdict, particularly the fact that his client confessed in the crime and helped the investigation.
The defendant stated that he leaves a term in prison to him for consideration of the court.
The court verdict is scheduled to be pronounced at 11:00 Moscow time on November 28.
The public prosecutor noted at a court session on Thursday that Saidov fulfilled all the conditions of the agreement with the investigation. So, he “dwelt in detail on the line-up of the gang, its masterminds, particularly a certain Daudov, who was destroyed later.” He also gave orders on several terrorist acts, which the investigators were unaware of. Meanwhile, Troshkina said that the defendant testified about the location of the arms caches and confessed in the details of the murder of high-ranking Dagestani police officer Ramazan Radzhabov and his deputy.
At the beginning of the court session Saidov asked about a trial to be held behind closed doors, because he is concerned about the life and health of his relatives. “I gave confession, identified the photos of all members in the gang, some of them are still wanted, therefore, I have enough reasons to believe that they will threaten to my relatives up to physical destruction,” he said.
However, the judges refused to satisfy this request, motivating his decision by the fact that the criminal case is being tried according to the special procedure, during which the evidence will not be examined, secondly, none of his relatives did not attend the court session.
The court also satisfied the request from an official of Russian Railways (RZD), which is considered as the injured party in the criminal case, to find the company as a civil plaintiff in the criminal case. The court will rule to satisfy the RZD lawsuit to the defendant in the room of court deliberations in the pronouncement of the court verdict.
Saidov is charged with 18 criminal episodes under six articles of the Russian Criminal Code, three of which envisage life in prison. In particular, he is accused of terrorist act, murder, banditry, the attempt on the life of a law enforcer and the illegal circulation of weapons.
Nineteen people are the injured parties in the criminal case, but only one of them attended the court session on Thursday.
After the pronouncement of the guilty verdict the convict confirmed that he pleads guilty, “I plead fully guilty and agree completely with the indictment.”
The detectives found that Saidov was a member of the so-called Gubden jaamat, which one of groups of the criminal community, which has been rampaging in Dagestan since 2003. “This gang was seeking for a forcible change of the Russian constitutional system, the attempt on the life of statesmen, law enforcers and servicemen and the destabilization of the public and political situation in Russia,” the Investigation Committee reported.
The investigators accused Saidov of masterminding a terrorist act on the Red Square on December 31, 2010. He has brought to Moscow two suicide bomber belts, which Zeinap Suyunova and Zavzhat Daudova were to detonate. “During the transportation he was in the bus and was watching whether or not two explosive devices disguised as the gas boilers will be noticed by the law enforcers,” the Investigation Committee explained.
This crime was not finalized for the reasons independent from the criminals, as a bomb detonated at the hotel, where the suspected suicide bombers were staying. Killing Daudova, Suyunova failed to come at the place of the masterminded terrorist act.
Meanwhile, Ilyas Saidov is accused of murder of the chief of the Dagestani anti-extremism centre, his deputy and three local residents. “He is also charged with five episodes of criminal activities, which are related with the planting and detonation of the explosive devices on the railway track, when the freight trains were passing on it. The legal entities sustained about 30 million roubles of damages as a result of these terrorist acts,” the Investigation Committee remarked.
Four other members of the gang were already convicted. The investigation against other six bandits is at the final stage. Several members of the criminal community were destroyed in the anti-terrorist operations in Dagestan and the Stavropol Territory.