Aide to Notorious Chechen Warlord is Found Guilty
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
MAKHACHKALA, Russia – An ideological aide to Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basayev was convicted yesterday of involvement in a 1999 raid in the southern Russian region of Dagestan and given an eight-year suspended sentence, a court official said.
Abdulla Aliyev, 72, was found guilty of “organizing and participating in an armed mutiny, illegally acquiring, possessing and carrying weapons, and belonging to an illegal armed group,” said Andrei Askhurov, secretary for Dagestan’s regional Supreme Court.
During a court hearing a week ago, Mr. Aliyev initially denied the charges, to the surprise of prosecutors to whom he had earlier confessed. Judge Ata Atayev berated Mr. Aliyev, who surrendered to authorities in Dagestan in July, saying prosecutors could have easily proven his guilt.
“You yourself wanted this court!” Judge Atayev told Mr. Aliyev. Mr. Aliyev ultimately confessed.
He had been wanted by Russian authorities since Basayev and the late Saudi-born rebel leader Omar Ibn al-Khattab led Chechen rebels into neighboring Dagestan in summer 1999, with the aim of setting up an Islamic state.
