11:41, 6 August 2018

Chechen officials visit Yusup Temirkhanov's funeral for own PR, people believe

Yusup Temirkhanov was sentenced for the murder of Yuri Budanov and died in a penal colony. While he was alive, the authorities of Chechnya did not try to achieve justice in his case, suggested local residents after the Chechen leader's speech at the funeral ceremony.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 3, the Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN) reported the death of Yusup Temirkhanov in the penal colony. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov declared that Yusup Temirkhanov had not been involved in the murder. Also, he admitted that the sentence made Yusup Temirkhanov a national hero, who "took revenge for the murder" of Elza Kungaeva, a Chechen young woman.

"Ramzan Kadyrov and other officials did nothing to mitigate the conditions of the Yusup Temirkhanov's detention in prison. Needless to say they did nothing to release him. Now they talk about the restoration of justice and compose verses about him," said Umar, a resident of the Chechnya.

"For all people, Yusup is a man who punished a rapist and a murderer. And he will forever remain such a national avenger," added Apti, a resident of Grozny.

On March 27, 2000, tank regiment commander Yuri Budanov arrived in the village of Tangi. He captured Elza Kungaeva, an 18-year-old Chechen woman, whom he treated as a sniper of militants. He interrogated the young woman and then strangled her. There was evidence that before the death, the young woman was abused, but investigators did not consider that episode.

Participants of the mourning events in the Geldagan village reported that tens of thousands of people had arrived to attend the funeral ceremony.

In Chechnya, verses are dedicated to Yusup Temirkhanov. The first verse was written by poet Zelimkhan Musaev, the former Chechen Deputy Minister for Press, who posted on Facebook the piece of poetry entitled "To Glorious Hero of Chechnya Yusup Temirkhanov".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 5, 2018 at 05:33 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: CK correspondent