00:49, 4 November 2017

In England, court requests to review Chechen native’s extradition case

Arbi Zarmaev, accused in Russia of involvement in a murder, may be sentenced in Chechnya on the basis of false testimony, reports the court's resolution.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2002, Arbi Zarmaev, a native of Chechnya, arrived in Belgium, and three years later, he was granted asylum on a false identification card. In 2009, Arbi Zarmaev was detained on suspicion of involvement in a number of crimes, and weapons were found in his house. Arbi Zarmaev was deprived of his refugee status and sentenced to 1.5 years of imprisonment. The Russian authorities sent a request to Belgium for his extradition. In 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) dismissed a complaint about his extradition, and Arbi Zarmaev moved to the UK, where he was arrested in 2015.

According to the law enforcement agencies, in 2001, Arbi Zarmaev provided a woman he knew with weapon to take revenge on a man who raped her. The woman detained after the murder was sentenced to six years of imprisonment.

In London, the High Court of Justice took into account the defence's arguments about the situation with human rights in Chechnya and sent a case on the Arbi Zarmaev's extradition to Russia.

Earlier, the UK court had approved the Arbi Zarmaev's extradition to Russia, since the Russian authorities had promised not to use violence against him. The defence challenged the UK court's decision.

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