Assassination of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev

Last updated
Yandarbiyev in 2000 Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev in 2000.jpg
Yandarbiyev in 2000

On February 13, 2004, Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev was assassinated when a bomb ripped through his SUV in the Qatari capital, Doha. Yandarbiyev was fatally wounded and died on the way to the hospital, while his 13-year-old son Daud was seriously injured and arrived in critical condition. According to some reports, two of his bodyguards were killed as well. [1]

Contents

It was initially unclear who was responsible for the blast, but suspicion fell on SVR or GRU, which denied any involvement, or internal feuding among the Chechen rebel leadership. Aslan Maskhadov's separatist Foreign Ministry condemned the assassination as a "Russian terrorist attack", comparing it to the 1996 attack that killed Dzhokhar Dudayev. The car bomb led to Qatar's first anti-terrorism law, declaring lethal terrorist acts punishable by death or life imprisonment.

Investigation and trial

On February 19, 2004, the Qatari authorities arrested three Russians in the Russian embassy for the murders. One, the first secretary of the embassy in Qatar, Aleksandr Fetisov, was released in March allegedly due to his diplomatic status, and the remaining two GRU agents - Anatoly Yablochkov (also known as Belashkov) and Vasily Pugachyov (sometimes misspelled as Bogachyov) - were charged with the assassination of Yandarbiyev, the assassination attempt of his son Daud and smuggling weapons into Qatar. According to Russia, Yablochkov and Pugachyov were secret intelligence agents sent to the Russian embassy to collect information about global terrorism. Russia's acting defence minister Sergei Ivanov pledged state support for the suspects and declared that their imprisonment was illegal. [2] There were some speculations that Aleksandr Fetisov had been released in exchange for Qatari wrestlers detained in Moscow on February 28. [3]

The trial proceedings were closed to the public after the defendants claimed that one of the prosecution witnesses, Qatari Colonel Dawdi, had tortured them in the first days after their arrest, when they had been held incommunicado; the two Russians alleged that they had suffered beatings, sleep deprivation and attacks by guard dogs. Based on these allegations and the fact that the two officers were arrested within an extraterritorial compound belonging to the Russian embassy, Russia demanded the immediate release of its citizens. They were represented by an attorney of the law firm founded by Nikolai Yegorov, a friend and fellow student of Vladimir Putin at Leningrad State University. [4] The Qatari prosecutors concluded that the suspects had received the order to murder Yandarbiev from Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov. [5] On June 30, 2004, both defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment; in passing sentence, the judge stated that they had acted on orders from the Russian leadership. [6] [7] [8]

The verdict caused severe tensions between Qatar and Russia, and on December 23, 2004, Qatar agreed to extradite the prisoners to Russia, where they would serve out their life sentence. The agents received a heroes' welcome on returning to Moscow on the same day and disappeared from public view shortly afterwards. The Russian prison authorities admitted in February 2005 that they were not in jail, and said that the sentence handed down in Qatar was "irrelevant" in Russia. [9]

On June 1, 2004, Leonid Parfyonov, one of the leading NTV journalists, was fired from the channel allegedly for making public the decision of the channel direction that had forbidden him to present a TV interview with Malika Yandarbiyeva, widow of Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev. [10] [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akhmed Zakayev</span> Prime Minister of Ichkeria

Akhmed Halidovich Zakayev is a Chechen statesman, political and military figure of the unrecognised Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI). Having previously been a Deputy Prime Minister, he now serves as Prime Minister of the ChRI government-in-exile. He was also the Foreign Minister of the Ichkerian government, appointed by Aslan Maskhadov shortly after his 1997 election, and again in 2006 by Abdul Halim Sadulayev. An active participant in the Russian-Chechen wars, Zakayev took part in the battles for Grozny and the defense of Goyskoye, along with other military operations, as well as in high-level negotiations with the Russian side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aslan Maskhadov</span> Chechen politician and military commander

Aslan (Khalid) Aliyevich Maskhadov was a Soviet and Chechen politician and military commander who served as the third president of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamil Basayev</span> Chechen militant (1965–2006)

Shamil Salmanovich Basayev, also known by his kunya "Abu Idris", was a Chechen guerilla leader who served as a senior military commander in the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He held the rank of brigadier general in the Armed Forces of Ichkeria, and was posthumously declared generalissimo. As a military commander in the separatist armed forces of Chechnya, one of his most notable battles was the separatist recapture of Grozny in 1996, which he personally planned and commanded together with Aslan Maskhadov. He also masterminded several of the worst terrorist attacks that occurred in Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev</span> Chechen politician (1952–2004)

Zelimkhan Abdulmuslimovich Yandarbiyev was a writer and politician from Chechnya, who served as acting president of the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria between 1996 and 1997. In 2004, Yandarbiyev was assassinated while in exile in Qatar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergei Ivanov</span> Russian politician (born 1953)

Sergei Borisovich Ivanov is a Russian senior official and politician who has been serving as the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation on the Issues of Environmental Activities, Ecology and Transport since 12 August 2016. He has the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation.

Suleiman Bekmirzayevich Yamadayev was a Chechen rebel commander from the First Chechen War who had switched sides together with his brothers Dzhabrail, Badrudi, Isa and Ruslan in 1999 during the outbreak of the Second Chechen War. He was the commander of the Russian military Special Battalion Vostok unit belonging to the GRU. As such, until 2008, he was officially in command of the biggest pro-Moscow militia outside the control of the current Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov. From 1 to 22 August 2008 Yamadayev was wanted in Russia on a federal warrant. Nevertheless, he served as one of the Russian military commanders in Russia's war with Georgia during the same period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salman Raduyev</span> Chechen military commander

Salman Betyrovich Raduyev was a Chechen separatist field commander, from 1994 to 1999, who masterminded and was responsible for the Kizlyar hostage taking raid. His activities, in his role as a commander, made him "Russia's second most wanted man."

Sultan Geliskhanov is a former head of the state security service in the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and a former field commander in the Chechen resistance against Russia.

The 2006 abduction of Russian diplomats in Iraq took place on June 3, 2006, in Baghdad, Iraq when Iraqi insurgents ambushed a car belonging to the Russian Embassy. Vitaly Titov,, was killed in the attack and the other four people in the car – Fyodor Zaitsev, Rinat Agliuglin, Oleg Fedoseyev, and Anatoly Smirnov – were abducted.

Sergei (Sergey) Lapin, also known by his radio communications call sign Kadet ("Cadet"), is a former Russian police officer who had served in Grozny, Chechnya as a Lieutenant in the OMON from the Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug. He has been convicted for the torture and "disappearance" of a Chechen student.

Events from the year 2005 in Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arbi Barayev</span> Chechen warlord (1974–2001)

Arbi Alautdinovich Barayev was a Chechen warlord who in 1996 became the founder and first leader of the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR) in Chechnya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vakha Arsanov</span> Chechen divisional general and politician (1950–2005)

Vakha Khamidovich Arsanov was a Chechen divisional general and politician who was Vice President of Ichkeria from 1997 to 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">February 2004 Moscow Metro bombing</span> Chechen separatist suicide bombing in a Moscow Metro

The February 2004 Moscow metro bombing occurred on 6 February 2004 when a male suicide bomber killed 41 people near Avtozavodskaya subway station on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line in Moscow. Up to 250 people were injured in the incident, some of the more common injuries being broken bones and smoke inhalation.

Events from the year 2004 in Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qatar–Russia relations</span> Bilateral relations

Qatar–Russia relations are the bilateral foreign relations between the two countries, Qatar and Russia.

The Russia–Chechnya Peace Treaty of 1997, also known as the Moscow Peace Treaty, was a formal peace treaty "on peace and the principles of Russian–Chechen relations" following the First Chechen War of 1994–1996. It was signed by the president of Russia Boris Yeltsin and the newly elected president of Chechnya Aslan Maskhadov on 12 May 1997, in the Moscow Kremlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zelimkhan Khangoshvili</span> Georgian Chechen soldier and alleged war criminal (1979–2019)

Zelimkhan Sultanovich Khangoshvili was an ethnic Chechen born in Georgia who was a former platoon commander for the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria as a volunteer during the Second Chechen War, and a Georgian military officer during the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Later on, he allegedly turned into a useful source of information for the Georgian Intelligence Service by identifying Russian spies and jihadists operating on domestic and foreign soil to Georgian intelligence agents. Khangoshvili was considered a terrorist by the Government of the Russian Federation, the Federal Security Service, and wanted in Russia. On 23 August 2019, Khangoshvili was assassinated in Kleiner Tiergarten, a park in Berlin, by FSB operative Vadim Krasikov.

References

  1. ↑ Associated Press (February 13, 2004). "Ex-Chechen president dies in blast" . Retrieved 15 March 2010– via NBC News.
  2. ↑ Sergei Ivanov has promised to strive for discharge of the Russian prisoners in Qatar. Lenta.ru, March 3, 2004 (in Russian).
  3. ↑ Let Go by Vlad Trifonov. Kommersant , March 25, 2004.
  4. ↑ The Origin of Putin's Oligarchy Archived 2006-06-21 at the Wayback Machine by Vladimir Pribylovsky, Ms., October 11, 2005 (in Russian).
  5. ↑ Sergei Ivanov Tied to the Case of the Russians in Qatar by Mikhail Zygar. Kommersant , April 13, 2004.
  6. ↑ Russia 'behind Chechen murder', BBC News, 30 June, 2004
  7. ↑ Aslan Maskhadov Killed Archived 2005-04-03 at the Wayback Machine , Kommersant, March 09, 2005
  8. ↑ (in Russian) Задержанные в Катаре – офицеры ГРУ, Gazeta.ru, 29th April 2004
  9. ↑ Convicted Russia agents 'missing', BBC News, 17 February, 2005
  10. ↑ Television station sacks Kremlin's last critic by Nick Paton Walsh. The Guardian , June 3, 2004.
  11. ↑ "It Was a Request We Couldn't Refuse" Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine by Maria Luisa Tirmaste. Kommersant , May 31, 2004.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.