Resident of Grozny sentenced for his attempt to leave for Syria

In Chechnya, the court has found Islam Saidulaev, a local resident, guilty of attempting to join in Syria the ranks of the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS), banned in Russia by court, and sentenced him to 3.5 years of imprisonment.

According to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), in late 2015, Islam Saidulaev, a resident of Grozny, planned to join rebels in Syria and thus left for Turkey. "He was detained by the Turkish secret services and deported to Russia," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by a staff member of the ICRF's Department for Chechnya.

On August 15, the Zavodskoy District Court of Grozny found Islam Saidulaev guilty under Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 2 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (preparation for joining an illegal armed formation in the territory of a foreign country). The defendant was sentenced to 3.5 years of imprisonment in a common-security penal colony with one-year restriction of freedom, reports an official of the ICRF.

The "Caucasian Knot" has no comments of the sentenced defendant himself regarding his sentence. One of the Islam Saidulaev's close friends has called his sentence as "too severe." "At our place, similar terms of imprisonment are often pronounced against those people who were directly involved in the combat actions in Syria. But Islam has never been to Syria. He was detained in Turkey. It turns out that he was sentenced for such a long term of imprisonment only for his intention. The sentence is too severe," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by a friend of the sentenced man.

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