13:02, 10 June 2004

Chechen presidential contender faced charges of fraud, abuse of power

Marat Zaynalabidov, a representative of the Russian Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), submitted an application to the Chechen Central Election Commission on June 8 asking to register him as a candidate for the post of Chechen president. 37-year-old Marat Zaynalabidov lives in Rostov now and is little known in the Chechen republic. Mr Zaynalabidov is an aide to Aleksandr Malyshkin, a Russian State Duma deputy for the LDPR. He has two certificates of higher education: medical and economic.

As it has become known, Marat Zaynalabidov was external manager at the Electroapparat defense company situated in Rostov Region. Criminal proceedings were instituted against him in January 2004 under the articles "fraud" and "abuse of power". Mr Zaynalabidov was arrested and taken into custody. Having spent 10 days in a temporary detention isolator in Rostov Region, he was released. The case against Marat Zaynalabidov was suddenly closed and ended with his dismissal from the post in fact.

Author: Sultan Abubakarov, CK correspondent

Source: Caucasian Knot