Natives of Dagestan convicted within case of IS* cell in Kalmyk colony

The Southern District Military Court has found two residents of Dagestan guilty of heading a terrorist cell in a Kalmyk colony and sentenced them to 18 and 23 years of freedom deprivation, accordingly; five other figurants were sentenced to prison terms of 7.5-8 years.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in December 2019, the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) reported 22 suspects figuring in the case of creating a terrorist community in a penal colony in Kalmykia. In May 2020, advocates stated that the cases against about 40 inmates were under investigation; and the number of defendants could grow. In March 2023, 13 defendants have already received long prison sentences.

Ruslan Surkhaev, Magomed Guseinov, Yuri Kaishev, Ramazan Dibirov, Timur Abdullaev, Makhmud Mugutdinov and Abdulmalik Ramazanov have been found guilty of heading and taking part in a terrorist community, inciting and inciting to participate in a terrorist community, and of publicly justifying terrorism.

According to the court, the convicts "distributed the ideology of radical Islam among the convicts and publicly justified terrorism."

Earlier, analysts pointed out that the case of a terrorist network in a Kalmyk colony looked like a promotion campaign launched by law enforcers. The creation of groupings in the territory of Russian colonies is possible only with the patronage of such activities by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN); this was noted by Magomed Mutsolgov, the head of the Ingush human rights organization "Mashr".

*On December 29, 2014, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the organization "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (IS or ISIL) as a terrorist international organization and banned its activities in Russia.