Commission on militants' adaptation makes positive decision on seven surrendered Dagestani residents

Today, in Makhachkala, the Commission on adaptation of militants decided to file a motion for leniency in judicial decisions with respect to four persons, accused of participating in illegal armed formations (IAFs), who voluntarily surrendered to the authorities. Three other persons, accused of providing assistance to militants, would be exempted from criminal liability.

Magomedsalam Magomedov, the leader of Dagestan, and Rizvan Kurbanov, Chairman of the Commission, the deputy of the State Duma, took part at the work of the Commission.

Commission to request court for leniency with respect to surrendered residents of Khasavyurt District

Shamil Mutaev, the head of the division on the Commission's provision, presented for consideration the cases of four residents of Khasavyurt and the Khasavyurt District. All of them are charged under Article 208 (participation in IAFs) and Article 222 (illegal possession of weapon) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Three months ago, four young men Djabrail Altysultanov, Khamzat Manaev, Zaur Khadjiev, and Yusup Arsabiev left home and joined militants. During all that time, their parents were looking for them. The father of Khamzat Manaev, who attended the meeting of the Commission, said that his wife secretly scoured the forest, hoping to find her son.

Khamzat Manaev himself said that he and other young men, who left "for the forest", understood that their family members were looking for them, and by that time, they realized their mistake. Khamzat sent an SMS-message to his brother that he wanted to surrender. After that, four persons came voluntarily to the Khasavyurt police station and laid down their weapons. After that, the young men wrote appeals to the Committee on adaptation of militants.

When asked why he left home and joined militants, Djabrail Altysultanov replied that he had been told by his acquaintances that without money he would not be able to go for studies or to get work, and the "injustice" should be corrected. Recently, Djabrail worked as a welder and earned 12,000 roubles, and he treated that as insufficient earnings.

"At first, I was afraid to surrender, since I thought I would be beaten. However, nobody touched us. As soon as I returned back, I was visited by parents of the other men, who 'left for the forest', and they were crying and asking me about their children. I realized how wrong I was," says Djabrail Altysultanov.

Zaur Gadjiev and Yusup Arsabiev, two other surrendered young men, have also confirmed the fact that they made the decision to surrender voluntarily and that, at present, no one uses torture and unlawful methods of investigation against them.

All four young men also claimed that they did not participate in the shootings of law enforcement agents and other crimes.

All members of the Committee voted unanimously for the motion for leniency in making a judgment with respect to all four surrendered young men. In the event if the court takes into account the Commission's opinion, the young people might be exempted from criminal liability.

Three Khasavyurt residents not to be prosecuted

Today, the Commission on adaptation of militants considered appeals of three other residents of Khasavyurt. Adam Akaev, Timursultan Visaitaev, and Alikhan Magadiev said that Khamanaev, a resident of the Khasavyurt District, persuaded them to join the underground. However, they understood the threat, and all three men voluntarily reported to the police on the incident.

"Taking into account the fact that they did not bear arms and that they were not involved in illegal armed formations, we decided not to institute criminal proceedings to bring them to criminal liability," said Abdurashid Magomedov, Minister of Internal Affairs of Dagestan. All members of the Commission on adaptation unanimously agreed with him.

The members of the Commission have stated that the persons, who had undergone the adaptation procedure, should be controlled, since there is no guarantee that those persons will not fall again under the influence of militants. For that purpose, the persons under adaptation will be assisted in going for studies or getting work.