Suspected organizer of attack on National Guard of Russia in Chechnya pleads not guilty

A message of Ali Bakaev, a resident of the Naur District of Chechnya, whom law enforcers called an organizer of the attack on a unit of the National Guard of Russia in March, was published on the Internet. The man claimed that he was not involved in the attack. His friends and relatives found his statement to be reliable.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that law enforcers called local resident Ali Bakaev to be an organizer of the attack on the unit of the National Guard of Russia in the regional centre of Naurskaya in the north of Chechnya. The man was put on international wanted list.

On the Internet, the Ali Bakaev's audio message was placed on YouTube under the nickname of Abu-Saddam Shishani by Tumso Abdurakhmanov, residing in Georgia. In 2016, he fled from Chechnya after a conflict with a top-ranking official, a relative of the leader of the republic.

In the video posted on the user's channel, Ali Bakaev has described the reason for his persecution by the fact that he is a practicing Muslim and that he was a friend of the young people killed in the attack on the unit of the National Guard of Russia. The man has also reported that Ibragim Djamalov, detained for involvement in the attack, is not guilty and defamed himself and him under torture.

Ali Bakaev has no one to help him. His parents were killed during the first military campaign in the republic, one of his relatives reported.

"For a long time, Ali wanted to study religion. He wore a beard, and he always had problems because of that. He left for Egypt to study there," said the woman.

According to Aslan, a member of a Chechen NGO, the audio message requires a thorough check.

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