16:25, 10 August 2024

Verdict to two Baksan residents for financing terrorism upheld

Askerbiy Khamukov at a session of the Khoroshevsky District Court of Moscow, March 23, 2020. Photo by Ramzan Uzuev

The cassation instance has upheld the verdict to Baksan resident Asker Khamukov and his sister, who were convicted within the case of financing terrorism.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 30, 2022, the military court sentenced Asker Khamukov to 18 years, and his sister Lianna to 16.5 years in penal colony, finding them guilty of financing a terrorist organization.

According to the court, in 2013, the Khamukovs joined a unit of the terrorist organization "Imarat Kavkaz"* and provided militants with housing and food; and in 2015, they organized an online fundraiser and transferred 1.4 million roubles for militants of the "Islamic State" (IS)**.

Magomed Bekov, an advocate, asked to overturn the court sentence and the decision of the appellate instance. In his complaint, he stated that the court "had improperly and in violation of the law assessed the Khamukovs' testimonies about their innocence."

"The witnesses failed to name the source of their knowledge of the circumstances of the case; and they were not eyewitnesses to the Khamukovs committing crimes," the complaint says.

Asker Khamukov was detained on October 7, 2019, in Baksan together with his sister, who gave birth to a child the next day. According to investigators, part of the funds in the Khamukovs' accounts came from the contractors suspected of involvement in terrorism. The defence insisted that there were no grounds for Khamukovs' criminal prosecution. The defence of Lianna, Asker's sister, also sought to soften her freedom restriction measure, since she is raising small children, for whom proper care is impossible under house arrest.

*A terrorist organization operating in Northern Caucasus. On February 8, 2010, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the "Imarat Kavkaz" as a terrorist organization and banned its activities in the territory of Russia as its members planned and committed terror acts aiming to break Russia's territorial integrity and incite national and religious hatred.

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

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 9, 2024 at 10:28 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: Caucasian Knot