12:00, 3 July 2009

Karachaevo-Circassia: prominent sambo athlete killed by power agents buried

On June 1, the body of Murat Ristov, world champion in combat sambo (Russian style of self-defence), who was killed on May 28 in Kabardino-Balkaria, was rendered to the mould in his homeland - Karachaevo-Circassia. Ristov was trained and became a well-known sportsman in Adygea.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Arambiy Khapai, Merited Coach of the Russian Federation (and USSR) and "domestic" coach of the deceased champion, who took part in the funeral, that law enforcers, when giving out the athlete's body for burial, gave no explanations why they had not done it before and what forced them to do it at last.

"In any case," Mr Khapai said, "the fact that the body was given out evidences that law enforcement bodies have no grounds to accuse Ristov of mingling with any illegal armed formations."

The coach finds Ristov's murder to be the greatest tragedy. "If we speak about sports only," he said, "we'll not be able to train anyone equal to Murat Ristov in the near future."

Author: Aslan Shazzo

Source: CK correspondent