19/04/2005
From American Captivity to Tatar Prison by Andrey Smirnov, Kazan
Yesterday it was learned that two former prisoners of the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Timur Ishmuradov and Ravil Gumarov, have been arrested in Tatarstan. They fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan, and together with other Russian citizens, were taken prisoner by the Americans. The Prosecutor General's Office obtained their extradition, but then the criminal case against them was closed. Now the two former Taliban partisans are suspected of involvement in a gas pipeline explosion in Bugulma.
The Russian Taliban taken prisoner by the Americans were extradited to Russia at the end of 2004. The negotiations to extradite the Russian citizens went on for almost two years. Officials from the Prosecutor General's Office, the FSB, and the Russian Ministry of Defense traveled to Cuba. Seven Taliban were finally handed over to Russia: Shamil Khadzhiev (a former millionaire) and Ravil Gumarov from Bashkortostan; Rasul Kudaev, a former republican junior wrestling champion, and Ruslan Oligov from Kabardino-Balkaria; Airat Vakhitov from Tatarstan; Rustam Akmerov from Chelyabinsk; and Timur Ishmuradov, who lived in Tyumen Region until 2000. After their arrival in Moscow, they were transferred to various prisons and isolation wards in Kavkazkie Mineralnye Vody. All of the extradited prisoners were charged under Articles 322 (illegal border crossing), 359 (mercenariness), and 210 (membership in a criminal association). However, in July 2004, the investigators decided there was insufficient proof of their guilt and they ended the criminal investigation against them. The acquitted men returned home, and now two of them are once again in custody. This time, they are suspected of terrorism.
The explosion of the low-pressure, 159-mm-diameter gas pipeline occurred in Bugulma on the evening of January 8 of this year at the corner of Gafiatullin and Gashek streets. Residents of a nearby apartment building told police they had heard a small bang. Rescuers of Tatartstan's Ministry of Emergency Situations, firefighters, doctors, and employees of the republican Interior Ministry and FSB arrived at the scene immediately. There were no victims, and nothing ignited. At the time, the Interior Ministry reported there were several versions of what had happened, including hooliganism and metal fatigue. According to the ministry, no traces of explosives were discovered at the scene of the explosion; nevertheless, the FSB took control of the investigation of the incident. Its specialists had determined that the pipeline had been blown up. Kommersant learned yesterday that five people, including two of the former Guantanamo prisoners – Ishmuradov (age 30) and Gumarov (age 43) – had been arrested as suspects in the gas pipeline explosion. This was confirmed by Ishmuradov's lawyer, Azer Rafiev. He told Kommersant that police had arrested his client in a mosque in Bugulma on April 1. He was charged with disobeying police officers and using profanity in a mosque and placed under administrative arrest for five days. On April 8, the Bugulma City Court ordered Ishmuradov jailed for 30 days as a suspected terrorist. “This was in connection with the investigation of the gas pipeline explosion in Bugulma,” Rafiev said. He also informed Kommersant that several other people were also arrested and jailed on suspicion of involvement in the explosion, including Gumarov, who had still not hired a lawyer. Rafiev did not name the remaining suspects. According to information Kommersant obtained from the Memorial human rights center, the arrested suspects include Ishmuradov's 22-year-old brother Rustam, who was arrested in Nefteyugansk (Tyumen Region); Ildar Valeev, a 25-year-old resident of Bugulma; and one other suspect whose name is unknown. As Memorial reported to Kommersant, all of the arrested men claimed the investigators were putting pressure on them, including physical pressure. Eduard Ismagilov, the head of the press service of the FSB's Tatarstan divison, neither confirmed nor denied the information of the arrest of the former Taliban. “We are carrying out all authorized investigative measures [in the explosion case],” he noted. “Reports from human rights activists that we're using some kinds of torture are unfounded; we're conducting the investigation according to the law. There will be no further comment until the investigation is completed.”
SOURCE: Kommersant.com |
