An indictment against eight Russian nationals request for prison terms of up at 33 for accused suspects of attempted assassination of Chechen dissidents in Turkey. The suspects were captured in an operation of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) in Istanbul last October.
A 25-page indictment by counter-terrorism bureau of the bureau of Istanbul’s public prosecutor is now awaiting the approval of the High Criminal Court. the prison terms are related to charges of politics or military espionageviolation of gun and counterfeit laws of official documents.
The suspects are charged of a plot to assassinate a Chechen dissident, codenamed “Abdulhakim”, who Lives in Turkey. They would have acted on orders of Adam Delimkhanov, Russian State Duma legislator and cousin of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Kazbek Dukuzov.
BR is the prime suspect in the case and is accused of run the network of spies working for Delimkhanov. Delimkhanov’s name was associated with assassinations targeting Chechen dissidents Umar Israilov and Sulim Yamadaev in 2009 in Vienna and Dubai, with Interpol issuing a arrest to guarantee for the legislator following the murder of Yamadaev in Dubai.
The indictment says Dukuzov acted as a “contractor” for Delimkhanov, recruits people assassinate Chechen dissidents. Dukuzov was the alleged mastermind of a string of murders, since the 2004 assassination of American journalist Paul Klebnikov at former Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Yan Sergunin who was killed same yearas well as the 2020 murder of Chechen dissident Mamikhan Umarov and attempted murder targeting Georgian journalist Giorgi Gabunia.
Chechen dissidents in Turkey, who were targets of similar assassination attempts in the pastor set up a Telegram channel to communicate with each other against possible suspects sent to eliminate them. The channel was also controlled by MIT, which also monitoring launched on BR, a name deciphered by dissidents.
The indictment says a search of the residence of the suspects found three pistols, a silencer, a large cache of ammunition, as well as license plates. One of the guns were found in a secret section of the residence of a suspect. The indictment also says that the suspects acquired weapons from AA, a convicted suspect of Daesh membership and involved in arms smuggling.
A search of digital evidence obtained from suspects also revealed that they had a grand number of photos of Chechen dissidents secretly taken away by suspects, with with passport information. The indictment says the suspects “planned to transmit the information they gathered in a foreign state or intelligence service.
