The verdict on the chief of police in the case of terrorist attacks in the Moscow metro was accompanied by a scandal

Secret witness said he was forced to slander the accused

The former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Kizlyar district of Dagestan, Colonel Gazi Isaev (included in the database of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring) was sentenced to life in prison. The court considered proven his involvement in the terrorist attacks at the Moscow metro stations “Lubyanka” and “Park Kultury” on March 29, 2010 (39 people died and more than 100 were injured).

This story could be indicative: retribution caught up 13 years later. But, as they say, there are nuances. It was Isaev who liquidated the terrorists in his area, for which he was sentenced to death in absentia by the Sharia court (the video of the verdict was removed from the Internet immediately after the arrest of the colonel, but it is at the disposal of MK). Is it possible to destroy militants and at the same time be in their service?

The Colonel pleaded not guilty. Moreover, the main prosecution witness at the trial said that he had slandered him at the request of the investigation. But the most interesting thing is: will there be a “debriefing” in the Investigative Committee and the FSB now, after the guilty verdict? After all, the best specialists of these departments conducted an investigation in 2010 and stated that they calculated the route of the suicide bombers and all those involved in the attack every minute. How did it happen that they “looked through” a high-ranking policeman?

“I won’t see you again, goodbye,” Colonel Isaev said quietly to his sons when he heard the verdict. The verdict was issued by the Second Western Military Garrison Court. Isaev hoped to the last that he would be acquitted.

Colonel Isaev was recognized as guilty under several terrible articles of the Criminal Code at once: Part 3 of Art. 210, part 3 of Art. 209, paragraph “b” part 3 of Art. 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in a criminal community committed by a person using his official position; banditry; terrorist act). The court found that the head of the DMIA, using his official position, provided information to the terrorists about special operations against them and about the activities of the Kizlyar police in general. In addition, Themis came to the conclusion that Isaev personally delivered one of the suicide bombers with an improvised explosive device attached to her to a bus station in the Kizlyar region for her to leave for Moscow.

The defendant kept repeating the same thing in court. Namely, that during his work under his leadership, the District Department of Internal Affairs destroyed 86 members of the bandit underground and detained about 750 bandits and their accomplices. “Thanks to this, peace was achieved in the Kizlyar region,” he said. – Because of this, I was sentenced to death by the Sharia court. So what are you imputing to me? .. “

Indeed, it sounds illogical: to accuse the one who destroyed the militants of having links with them. But what just does not happen.

“The fight against terrorists could be a disguise,” suggested the expert I turned to.

But their destruction was not imaginary. Is it really for the sake of the colonel not being “calculated”, not sparing the members of the gang and setting up a “fake” Sharia court? We could, yes. But what’s the point? After all, the militants were completely defeated.

In the case against Isaev, there are testimonies of three witnesses. Two of them were initially known (all were sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism), the third was secret, named Stepan Stepanov. And then, at the trial on January 20, the unexpected happened: a secret witness demanded that he be declassified.

Stepanov turned out to be 46-year-old resident of Dagestan Magomed Nurov (included in the list of terrorists and extremists by Rosfinmonitoring). He was the driver of the militants, and he admitted his guilt. So, by the time Isaev was detained, an investigation was already underway in Nurov’s case. And allegedly then three security officials asked him to testify against Isaev, promising in return that he would receive 15 years. But promising does not mean getting married: in February 2022, Nurov was sentenced to life in prison. Maybe that’s why at the trial of Isaev he decided to tell “how it really happened”? An audio recording of his testimony is at the disposal of the editors: Nurov states that he never saw Isaev and that he was asked to slander the colonel. The witness even names the names of those three “petitioners”.

However, the court did not take this into account, but Nurov’s testimony given during the preliminary investigation. He did not take into account the fact that the second witness for the prosecution, Akhmedov, was detained by Isaev himself for the terrorist attack in March 2010 in Kizlyar. That is, thanks to Isaev, he was sentenced to life in prison. Is this not a reason for a slander, if only out of revenge?

The judiciary is known to be independent. But his decision, it seems to me, should not leave questions. There are only more of them in this case. The Colonel has already announced that he will appeal.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28991 dated March 17, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Life with stipulations