Two KChR residents found guilty of recruiting people for war in Syria

The North-Caucasian District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced Ruslan Ionov and Murad Nazirov, residents of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR), to seven and three years of imprisonment, accordingly, for recruiting Russians to the war in Syria.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Ruslan Ionov was detained on July 12, 2014, by agents of the Centre for Combating Extremism of the KChR's MIA. Ionov's advocate and relatives stated violations at his detention; and he himself stated at the trial that he was tortured by electricity. Last September Ionov was charged with terrorism.

Ionov's case was investigated on illegal possession of firearms and recruitment; and Nazirov's one – on complicity in a crime and aiding in recruitment.

Their prison terns are counted from July 2014; and the defendants had concluded pre-trial cooperation agreements with investigators.

It should be noted here that in 2002 Ionov was convicted, in a group of six persons, for a number of grave crimes, including the attempt to change the constitutional order. In 2012, he was released.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that, according to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), 16 residents of the KChR, who left for Syria at different times, are suspected of involvement in illegal armed formations (IAFs) in the territory of this country.

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