17 September 2019, 11:49
Dagestani woman accused of terrorism apologizes to victims
The witnesses' testimonies and examination results in the case of Miyasat Kitalaeva, a resident of Makhachkala, speak in her favour, while the victims have toughened their testimonies against her because of resentment, the advocates have stated. In her last plea, Kitalaeva referred to her gullibility and asked for a humane sentence.
The North-Caucasian District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don has been considering Kitalaeva's case since June 3, 2019; she is accused of participating in a terrorist organization, and faces 17 years in prison.
According to the prosecution, in February 2016, Kitalaeva joined militants and took part in the kidnapping of two residents of the village of Djuli. The defence has stated that Kitalaeva was held by militants in the forest against her will and didn't join their squad. The advocate claims that Kitalaeva got acquainted on the Internet with a young man who invited her to marry him, but took her to the militants in the forest. On June 18, residents of Djuli spoke about her active in attacking the house of their family.
"As a result of fraudulent actions of Rasmin Magomedov (the young man), Kitalaeva found herself, instead of a wedding party, in militants' captivity. She never made promises to anyone, and never took oath to any organization. She was there against her will," Sergey Kvasov, an advocate, has stated at the trial.
He has noted that the girl from a poor family lived "in a depressed region, which had for a long time been subjected to terrorists' powerful attacks, including the propaganda ones."
Kitalaeva herself has noted that after the detention, she gave confessions since she was "in shock" and hoped that "the accusation wouldn't be confirmed." She also apologized to her family for occurring in such a situation.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 16, 2019 at 11:15 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Konstantin Volgin Source: CK correspondent
