Chechen court sentences Tsintsalashvili, accused of recruiting militants, to six years in prison

On December 25, a court in Grozny found Beslan Tsintsalashvili, a citizen of Georgia, of an attempt to persuade two residents of Chechnya to terrorist activities, and sentenced him to six years in prison, Luiza Killaeva, Tsintsalashvili's advocate, said on December 27.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Tsintsalashvili, according to investigators, persuaded two residents of Chechnya to go to Syria and join the terrorist organization "Islamic State". Investigators believe that he promised them to help in obtaining foreign passports and transfer from Georgia to Syria. Tsintsalashvili is charged with persuasion to terrorist activities (Part 1, Article 205.1 of the Russian Criminal Code). The case against him was considered in the Okyiabrskiy District Court of Grozny.

Luiza Killaeva said that her client had not yet decided whether he would challenge the verdict. "Now we are thinking about it, because an appeal is a virtually useless matter," said Killaeva, stressing that she continues thinking that the charges against her client were "raw" and poorly worked through. "It was a rapid combination; and those two [witnesses, based on whose testimonies Tsintsalashvili was convicted] – they were planted. He thinks so; and I support it," she has concluded.

Let us remind you that in September 2013 it became known that the natives of Northern Caucasus had formed a unit named "Jaish al-Muhajireen" in the city of Aleppo in Syria. It is headed by a native of Chechnya Abu Abdurakhman.

On September 3, 2014, supporters of the "Islamic State" threatened, in their disseminated video, to start a war in the Caucasus. On September 24, 2014, media spread a message stating that one of the leaders of the "Islamic State" Abu Umar al-Shishani announced a reward for assassinating the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, and his retinue. On November 13, 2014, Kadyrov reported the death of Umar al-Shishani. However, this fact was not confirmed.

Natives of the Caucasus take an active part in the warfare in Syria and Iraq alongside with the "Islamic State", which is recognized as a terrorist organization in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, USA, Turkey and other countries, as well as by the Arab League, says the document prepared by the "Caucasian Knot": "Caucasians in the ranks of IS (ISIL)".

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.