Grozny resident sentenced to three years for involvement in hostilities in Syria

Rustam Kerimov, a resident of Grozny, accused of involvement in the hostilities in the territory of Syria, has been sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a common-security penal colony with a restraint of liberty for one year. The decision was pronounced by the Zavodskoy District Court of Grozny, the Prosecutor's Office of Chechnya reports.

The criminal case against local resident Rustam Kerimov was sent to the Zavodskoy District Court of Grozny in August.

According to the Chechen Prosecutor's Office, in the first half of October 2013, Rustam Kerimov flew from Kaspiisk to Istanbul and then crossed the Turkish-Syrian border. Finding himself in the territory of Syria, he wanted to join illegal armed formations (IAFs) and contacted "Abu-Ibragim", a leader of one of such IAFs. After that, according to the Chechen Prosecutor's Office, Rustam Kerimov attended a course of shooting, physical and religious training.

It should be noted that in June 2013, the Chechen authorities recognized that Chechen natives are involved in the war in Syria. On September 20, 2013, Sergey Smirnov, the First Deputy Director of the Russian FSB, reported that 300-400 natives of Russia are involved in the hostilities in Syria as mercenaries. On December 10, 2013, Riad Haddad, the Syrian Ambassador to Russia, stated that about 1700 natives of Chechnya are fighting in the territory of Syria.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.