Chechnya: Prosecutor Says 46 Russian Troops Convicted Of Abuses
Moscow, 10 January 2003 (RFE/RL) -- Russia's chief military prosecutor said
Russia's military courts have convicted 46 federal soldiers of human rights
abuses in Chechnya since Russia renewed its military operations there in
1999.
Aleksandr Savenkov, releasing the figure today, said 11 of the soldiers were
found guilty of committing murder, and 13 were convicted of rape.
The prosecutor did not specify what the men's sentences were.
Also, a military prosecutor today appealed a military court's decision to
clear an army colonel of criminal responsibility for killing a young Chechen
woman while serving in the breakaway republic. The North Caucasus District
Military Court ruled on 31 December that Yurii Budanov was insane when
he strangled Elza Kungaeva in the village of Tangi-Chu in March 2000 and
could not be sentenced on the charge of murder.
Human rights activists said the ruling effectively gave impunity to soldiers
who committed human rights abuses during the war in Chechnya.
Webeditors note: Without knowing their sentences, names, ranks, units and
whereabouts all this isn't credible. These news are almost certainly artificially
constructed having the sole function to show to the "civilized world" how
the Russian forces are "fighting" abuses and human rights breaches.