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Russian Colonel Re-tried For Killing Chechen Girl
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| Budanov accused of strangling a Muslim young lady in cold blood |
MOSCOW,
March 1 (IsalmOnline.net & News Agencies) - Russia's Supreme
Court ordered Friday, February 28, a re-trial of a Russian army
colonel, quashing a military court's decision to clear him from the
responsibility of killing a Muslim girl while serving in Chechnya.
Military
prosecutors had demanded to have the verdict, handed down on December
31 last year against Colonel Yury Butane, overturned and a new trial
launched on such a landmark human rights case, Agene France-Presser
(AFP) reported Saturday, March 1.
The
military collegiums of the Supreme Court has "asked the North
Caucasus court to re-examine the case from scratch with new
judges," said a spokesman for the military prosecutor's office,
Vladimir Milovanov.
"Colonel
Budanov will stay in custody until then," he added.
The
Supreme Court explained its ruling by saying that "the facts were
not taken into consideration by the North Caucasus tribunal" and
pointed to "numerous procedural violations."
The
court also noted that Colonel Budanov had been commanding his tank
regiment "with success" at the time of the killing and was
taking part in all military operations, and therefore in full
possession of his senses.
The
victim's father said he was surprised and overjoyed at the ruling.
"It's
a just decision, I wasn't expecting it. I thank the court and the
courageous people from the military prosecutor's office,” Visa
Kungayev said outside the courthouse.
Kungayev
also appealed the decision of the military court in Rostov-on-Don,
southern Russia, which upheld a psychiatric evaluation that found that
Colonel Yury Budanov was insane when he strangled Elsa Kungayeva in
March 2000.
Kungayeva's
family had accused doctors of conducting a biased evaluation aimed at
exonerating Budanov, the first high-ranking military figure to be
brought to trial on such a serious offence since Russian troops
re-invaded Chechnya in October 1999.
Budanov,
who admitted to strangling the 18-year-old young lady, was committed
for treatment at a psychiatric clinic but has remained in jail while
the appeal was heard.
The
case, which has attracted worldwide attention, is seen as test of
Russia's readiness to prosecute human rights violations in Chechnya,
where its forces have been accused of kidnappings, rape and summary
executions.
The
original ruling provoked widespread protest from human rights
activists, who said it effectively gave impunity to soldiers who
committed human rights abuses during the much-criticized war in
Chechnya.
Budanov
abducted Kungayeva, 18, from a Chechen village allegedly on suspicion
of being a Chechen fighter.
He
brought her to his military base, interrogated her and strangled her
cold-bloodedly.
It
was also established that Kungayeva had been raped, but prosecutors
threw out that charge. Budanov had faced a maximum of 20 years in
prison if found guilty of murder.
The
trial, which has already dragged on for some two years, comes against
a growing wave of brutal exactions perpetrated by Russian forces on
Chechen civilians.
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