20:18, 20 May 2015

Russia's SC softens verdict to resident of Astrakhan Region for recruiting militants

The Aleppo residents are queuing outside a bakery in order to buy bread. Syria. Photo https://ru.wikipedia.org

The Russia's Supreme Court (SC) reduced by six months the sentence to Zelimkhan Shapaev, a resident of the Astrakhan Region, convicted for recruiting mercenaries to Syria.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 2 the Astrakhan Regional Court sentenced Shapaev to five years in a general-security colony, finding him guilty of recruiting mercenaries. According to investigators, Shapaev had recruited a group of mercenaries who in 2013 went to Syria to take part in the hostilities for the militants of the ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levante). Later, the convict appealed against his verdict.

His defence asked the court to soften the verdict. "The punishment is too severe; besides, my client cooperated with investigators," the lawyer Zhurbanov said at the court session on May 20.

The prosecutor explained that Shapaev "was convicted under a special order (he had fully admitted his guilt, – note of the "Caucasian Knot"), and the court has observed the order when convicting him.

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

Author: Yuliya Buslavskaya

Source: CK correspondent