Magomed Evloev's brother and sister were unaware about his plans to become suicide bomber, their father says

Mukhazhir Evloev, father of Magomed Evloev, who is considered to be the executor of the terror act at the Moscow "Domodedovo" Airport on January 24, asserts that his detained children - Akhmed, 16, and Fatima, 22, - did not know about their brother's plans to commit a terror act. This was reported by Timur Akiev, head of the Ingush office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

Employees of the HRC "Memorial" have visited Magomed Evloev's elderly father, who said that Magomed indeed had a meeting with his brother and sister on January 19 or 20.

"The father learnt about this meeting from his children already after their detention. He also confirmed that his daughter was married to the late Bilan Bogatyryov, who was killed in a special operation last year. According to the father, three days after the death of his son-in-law, he took his daughter back home. The fact that Magomed Evloev wanted to blow him up was unknown to his brother and sister, as the father asserts, and did not help him with this," Timur Akiev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

As earlier reported by various media, Mukhazhir Evloev thought that his son was employed at construction works in the Krasnodar Territory. Magomed told his brother and sister that he was leaving for Moscow on business, said the father. According to his story, Magomed, Akhmed and Fatima were the children from his second marriage.

According to Mr Akiev, the parents of Umar Aushev, also detained in Ingushetia on suspicion of helping Magomed Evloev in his terror act, do not deny that their son gave a lift to Magomed Evloev.

"Aushev drove Evloev to the bus, which was leaving for Moscow. Evloev asked Aushev to give him a lift. But is it reasonable to accuse him of complicity because of that? After all, he might have been unaware about Evloev's plans," says Akiev.

Lawyer Magomed Gagiev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that, despite the fact that Akhmed Evloev, 16, accused of complicity and hiding a crime, is still a minor, according to the Russian legislation, should he be found guilty, would bear the same responsibility as his sister - an adult Fatima.

One of the relatives of Akhmed and Fatima Evloev, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the arrest and subsequent prosecution of the Evloevs for the crimes are just a revenge taken by their own relatives.

"When militiamen detained Islam Evloev, Magomed Evloev's cousin, his relatives blamed the latter's family with indignation that innocent Islam Evloev had suffered because of Magomed. They held their anger on them; and I know for sure that they 'ratted' on Akhmed and Fatima to the militia, you can't name it otherwise. The brother and sister had nothing to do with the terror act and didn't know about it. Yes, they saw their brother, but what is strange in such meeting of relatives?" asked the source.

According to his version, Islam Evloev's relatives invented a whole story: "Allegedly, Fatima and her husband had been recruiting suicide bombers. The main thing for them was to take revenge and put the remaining Akhmed and Fatima into prison. After detention of Islam Evloev, this hatred of his relatives to the family of Magomed Evloev is known to all the Evloevs in this village. They all live there together in one street," said the source.

No comments of Islam Evloev's family have been made public yet. One of the advocates of Fatima and Akhmed Evloev refused to give any comments to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on the situation with his clients, while the second defender could not be reached.