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TITLE: Family of Murdered Chechen Girl Want Russian Soldier's Trial Moved |
AUTHOR: |
PUB: Agence France Presse |
DATE: March 1, 2001 |
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MOSCOW-- (Agence France Presse) A lawyer representing the family of a Chechen girl allegedly murdered by a Russian soldier called Thursday for his trial to be moved to Chechnya or the European Court at Strasbourg, state-run RTR television said. Lawyer Abdullah Kamzayev said it would be impossible to get a fair trial in the southern city of Rostov, where the hearing began Wednesday, because of demonstrations outside the courthouse by supporters of the accused, Yury Budanov. The Russian army colonel is charged with the kidnap and murder of 18-year-old Elza Kugayeva, who disappeared in the village of Tangi, south of Chechen capital Grozny, in March last year. Her raped and strangled body was found in the same area several days later. Budanov, 37, was arrested in March and charged with murder and rape, although the second count was later dropped. Pro-Budanov demonstrators halted the trial after only an hour on its first day and were again out in force Thursday, waving banners outside the courthouse that read: "Glory to Colonel Budanov, Glory to Russia" and "Cleanse Chechnya in Beria fashion." Lavrenty Beria, Stalin's interior minister, organized the deportation of Chechens to Siberia and Central Asia in 1944. Budanov's trial, the first of its kind since Moscow launched its 17-month war in Chechnya on October 1, 1999, is seen as a key test of Russia's resolve to end human rights abuses by federal soldiers. END |