Court sentences Cherkes Rustamov to life imprisonment for committing terror act in Stavropol

The Stavropol Regional Court found Cherkes Rustamov, a 22-year-old native of Dagestan, guilty of committing a terror act in May 2010 near the Palace of Culture and Sports in the centre of the city of Stavropol. The Court's decision sentenced Cherkes Rustamov to life imprisonment.

The investigators and the Court revealed that on May 26, 2010, Cherkes Rustamov together with Farid Misriev and Abibulla Abdullaev, natives of Dagestan, committed the terror act in the centre of Stavropol. It was revealed that Abibulla Abdullaev made an explosive device, and Farid Misriev placed it. This was reported by the statement of the Investigatory Department of the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) in the Stavropol Territory, received by the "Caucasian Knot" edition office.

Farid Misriev and Abibulla Abdullaev were killed; the first one during a special operation held in June 2010, and the second one at his attempt to rob the store in Stavropol in September of the same year.

Zhalya Fatullaeva, the defendant's lawyer, stated after the pronouncement of the verdict that she would file an appeal and demand cancellation of the sentence, since her client had not been involved in the terror act committed in Stavropol.

Sergey Evdokimov, the public defender of Cherkes Rustamov, has told journalists he believes that the criminal case should be reclassified, since that had not been a terror act, but slaughter committed by generally dangerous method. According to him, if they manage to reclassify the charges, Cherkes Rustamov could be acquitted, the "RAPSI" (Russian Agency of Legal and Judicial Information) reports.

In the course of the court session held on March 6, Cherkes Rustamov pronounced his final speech, in which he pleaded not guilty.