Prosecutor treats guilt of five residents of Ingushetia of plotting terror acts proved

The prosecutor asked the court to recognize Salamkhan Sampiev, Ruslan Esmurziev, Khusen Kitiev, Magomed Amatkhanov and Elbert Kharsiev guilty of preparing terror acts in Ingushetia and Moscow and sentence them to prison terms ranging from 13 to 20 years. Elbert Kharsiev and his defence insist that testimonies were given under torture.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 15, 2016, the FSB announced the arrest of five suspects of plotting terror acts in Ingushetia and Moscow. Investigators accuse them of having links with the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

According to the prosecution, the five defendants were involved in terrorist crimes by Zubayri Sautiev, who was in Syria and carried out the IS' mission of creating a group of militants in Ingushetia.

The group also included three residents of the republic, killed on October 7, 2016, by law enforcers. Another alleged member of the group, Ismail Kitiev, is wanted.

The terror act "was planned during the celebration of the new 2017 near the French Embassy in Moscow in response to the France's and Russia's counterterrorist operation in Syria."

Andrei Bondarev, Elbert Kharsiev's advocate, treats the prosecution's position as unproved.

Elbert Kharsiev himself declared his innocence. "Sautiev is my cousin. He told me that he wanted to take his family from Syria to Ingushetia," he said.