Four airport rioters convicted in Dagestan

The court sentenced the defendants in the case of the pogrom at the Makhachkala airport to terms ranging from 11 to 11 years and 6 months in prison. Among those convicted is the only woman among all the accused, Patimat Sharudinova.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, the first hearing in the Stavropol Regional Court in the case against four natives of Dagestan took place on December 3, 2024.

Today, the Stavropol Regional Court announced the verdict for four more residents of Dagestan in the case of the pogrom at Makhachkala airport. Devletkhan Ramazanov, Gadzhi Imanmurzaev, Asker Budaykhanov and Patimat Sharudinova were found guilty of organizing mass riots and violating transport security. They received sentences from 11 to 11.5 years, the Stavropol Territory Prosecutor's Office reported on its Telegram channel.

According to the investigation, on October 29, 2023, all four came to the Makhachkala airport, where riots were taking place “based on national and religious hatred and hostility towards Israeli citizens” due to the arrival of a flight from Tel Aviv. There they "refused to comply with the lawful demands of law enforcement officers, took part in mass riots accompanied by violence and destruction of property," but their specific actions are not named.

A RIA Novosti source in law enforcement agencies reported that Sharudinova is the only woman involved in the cases of riots at the Uytash airport.

The Investigative Committee reported on the sentences of 135 participants in the riots

"The evidence collected by the Main Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation was recognized by the courts as sufficient to pass 28 sentences on 135 defendants in criminal cases regarding mass riots at the Makhachkala International Airport in Dagestan. (The defendants) received sentences ranging from 6.5 to 15 years in a general regime penal colony," the press service of the Investigative Committee of Russia said in a statement on its official Telegram channel.

The department also clarified that the wanted suspects who organized the riots, Ilya Ponomarev (recognized as a foreign agent), Abakar Abakarov and Israil Akhmednabiyev, are charged under Part 2 of Article 282 (incitement of hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity) and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code (financing extremist activity.

As Kommersant previously wrote, the investigation believes that Ponomarev, Akhmednabiyev and Abakarov organized the anti-Semitic pogrom at the Makhachkala airport in 2023 with the help of the Telegram channel "Morning Dagestan", where "false information" appeared about the arrival of a flight from Tel Aviv with Israeli citizens in the republic.

Ponomarev's case file indicates that the deputy head of the legal department of NordStar Airlines is participating in the process as a representative of the victim, due to pogrom, the company delayed two flights. All three criminal cases will be considered separately by the Dagestani court, notes Mediazona

Recall that many of the defendants stated that they were at the airport, but did not take part in the riots. At the same time, some guilty verdicts were handed down despite the testimony of witnesses. Thus, in January, police officers were unable to identify two defendants in court - Magomedgadzhi Chirgilaev and Yasin Gadzhiev. The defendants themselves claimed that they went to the airport out of curiosity to see what was going on there. They told their lawyer that they were beaten to force them to incriminate themselves. Despite this, on February 27, the court sentenced them to long terms in a penal colony.

Mass riots at Makhachkala airport occurred on October 29, 2023, due to a report of the arrival of a plane with passengers from Israel. From October 26 to 29, 2023, mass anti-Semitic actions took place in three republics of the North Caucasus - Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia. "Caucasian Knot" prepared the reports "Anti-Semitic actions in the North Caucasus: how it was" and "A wave of anti-Semitic actions in the North Caucasus".