Figurants of Gagiev group case sentenced to long terms

Oleg Khamitsev, a defendant in the case of customized murders, has been sentenced to life imprisonment; other figurants will lose their freedom for the term of 16-22 years.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported, referring to investigators, that Aslan Gagiev's grouping committed about 40 murders in North Ossetia, Moscow and Moscow region. The grouping included Arthur Tibilov, Valery Pliev, Oleg Khamitsev, Chermen Sugarov, Azamat Sidakov and Tamerlan Kozyrev. Their case was considered starting early May by the North-Caucasian Military District Court in Rostov-on-Don.

By combining their crimes, the court has sentenced Valery Pliev to 18 years, Arthur Tibilov – to 22 years, Chermen Sugarov – to 20 years, Tamerlan Kozyrev – to 17 years, Azamat Sidakov – to 16 years, and Oleg Khamitsev – to life imprisonment; all of them will serve their terms in a high-security colony, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reported today at 5:02 p.m. Moscow time.

Let us remind you that Aslan Gagiev was detained in Vienna on January 17; and the first instance court decided to extradite him to Russia; however, the Supreme Court of Vienna ruled to revise the decision, arguing that Russia may not respect human rights, guaranteeing the freedom from torture. On August 19, the regional court in Vienna issued a repeated decision on the admissibility to extradite Aslan Gagiev to Russia.

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