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TITLE: "Colonel Budanov, We're Proud of You" |
AUTHOR: Maria Antonenko |
PUB: Transitions on Line |
DATE: March 5, 2001 |
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Russia prosecutes its first high-ranking military officer for war crimes in Chechnya. The trial of Colonel Yury Budanov, a Russian military commander accused of kidnapping and murdering an 18-year-old Chechen girl, began on 28 February in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia. It is the first time a high-ranking military officer is being prosecuted for war crimes against a Chechen civilian. Budanov was arrested and taken into custody a year ago. He was previously considered to be one of the country's best officers, having served in Chechnya from the beginning of the campaign. He was also one of the first officers to be awarded a medal for bravery. According to an official statement from the Military Prosecutor's Office, Colonel Budanov and the members of his armored personnel carrier No. 391 went to the village of Tangi in the Urus Martan region of Chechnyaon 27 March 2000 at one o'clock in the morning. They entered the house of the Kungayev family, threatened the family at gunpoint, kidnapped their 18-year-old daughter, Elza, and brought her to the regiment station. There, the colonel beat, raped, and strangled her, ordering three of his soldiers to bury the body in the forest outside the regiment's base. The murder victim's father has testified that the Russian officer and his soldiers were drunk when they stormed into his house. The group evidently had two reasons to celebrate--the birthday of Budanov's daughter on that same day, and Vladimir Putin's victory in the presidential elections the day before. Budanov has confessed to the murder, but steadfastly denies that he was drunk or that he raped the girl. He claims instead that he was getting proof from the Chechen girl that she was a rebel sniper" and killed her when she insulted him, but didn't abuse her sexually. Although an initial medical examination--performed by military medic Dr. Vyacheslav Lyanenko one day after Elza Kungayeva's death--confirmed the victim had been raped, the official version of the story was soon changed: Kungayeva's corpse had been "desecrated" by one of the three soldiers Budanov had ordered to bury it in the forest. None of the three soldiers that accompanied Budanov will be prosecuted: All three were eligible for a general amnesty passed by parliament last spring in commemoration of Victory Day. Budanov's supporters--Cossacks, young National Bolsheviks, and some older-generation communists--have been protesting against the colonel's trial in front of the court building, chanting pro-military and anti-Chechen slogans: "Freedom to the Russian officer", "No Chechnya!", "Colonel Budanov, we are proud of you!" Budanov also received support from his former commander, General Vladimir Shamanov, the new governor of the Ulyanovsk region, who has attended the trial. In an interview, Shamanov harshly criticized the process, saying, "Today I was at the beginning of the trial and the colonel--who I think is backed by the whole country--has only one lawyer, and the so-called poor victim's [family] has three Moscow attorneys." Another officer of Budanov's 160th regiment, Ivan Fedorov, is also on trial. Prosecutors have determined that on the day of the Chechen girl's murder, he ordered his subordinates to conduct target practice by firing on Tangi, the girl's home village, completely destroying one family's home. Putin's envoy to the Chechen republic, Shamil Beno, believes that this trial is very important to the Chechen people. In an interview with independent radio Echo Moskvy, Beno noted that there are a lot of witnesses to such crimes in Chechnya, and this trial could show that the punishment of such people is possible and inescapable. Meanwhile, General Military Prosecutor Mikhail Kislicyn did his best to assure the public that federal troops are accountable for their actions in wartime. He emphasized that since the beginning of the operation in Chechnya, seven members of the military have been sentenced for crimes against Chechen civilians and 12 more are awaiting trial. Every case is studied carefully, he added. END |