Askerbiy Khamukov at a session of the Khoroshevsky District Court of Moscow, March 23, 2020. Photo by Ramzan Uzuev

10 August 2024, 16:25

Verdict to two Baksan residents for financing terrorism upheld

The cassation instance has upheld the verdict to Baksan resident Asker Khamukov and his sister, who were convicted within the case of financing terrorism.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 30, 2022, the military court sentenced Asker Khamukov to 18 years, and his sister Lianna to 16.5 years in penal colony, finding them guilty of financing a terrorist organization.

According to the court, in 2013, the Khamukovs joined a unit of the terrorist organization "Imarat Kavkaz"* and provided militants with housing and food; and in 2015, they organized an online fundraiser and transferred 1.4 million roubles for militants of the "Islamic State" (IS)**.

Magomed Bekov, an advocate, asked to overturn the court sentence and the decision of the appellate instance. In his complaint, he stated that the court "had improperly and in violation of the law assessed the Khamukovs' testimonies about their innocence."

"The witnesses failed to name the source of their knowledge of the circumstances of the case; and they were not eyewitnesses to the Khamukovs committing crimes," the complaint says.

Asker Khamukov was detained on October 7, 2019, in Baksan together with his sister, who gave birth to a child the next day. According to investigators, part of the funds in the Khamukovs' accounts came from the contractors suspected of involvement in terrorism. The defence insisted that there were no grounds for Khamukovs' criminal prosecution. The defence of Lianna, Asker's sister, also sought to soften her freedom restriction measure, since she is raising small children, for whom proper care is impossible under house arrest.

*A terrorist organization operating in Northern Caucasus. On February 8, 2010, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the "Imarat Kavkaz" as a terrorist organization and banned its activities in the territory of Russia as its members planned and committed terror acts aiming to break Russia's territorial integrity and incite national and religious hatred.

**On December 29, 2014, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the organization "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL or IS) as a terrorist international organization and banned its activities in Russia.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 9, 2024 at 10:28 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: Caucasian Knot

All news
НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН И РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ ООО “МЕМО”, ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА ООО “МЕМО”.

September 09, 2024 16:40

September 09, 2024 15:03

September 08, 2024 23:58

  • ECtHR awards compensation to Rostov-on-Don activist

    The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has awarded EUR 5000 in compensation to Ekaterina Vereschagina, an activist from Rostov-on-Don, concluding that Russian authorities had violated her right to the freedom and peaceful assembly by detaining her for 10 days in 2021 after she took part in an action in support of Alexei Navalny*.

September 08, 2024 23:48

  • Voters report coercion to vote in Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories

    Residents of the Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories have faced coercion to vote at the recent elections, voters have reported. From the Seversky District of the latter, the "Map of Election Violations" also received reports of pressure on an observer and violations during home voting.

September 08, 2024 23:18

  • Former teacher Roman Melnichenko released from Volgograd SIZO

    Roman Melnichenko, a former teacher at the Volgograd State University and an international law expert, has been released after three days of arrest. Law enforcers cited his refusal to show his passport as the reason for the accusation of disobeying policemen.

News archive