By Kenneth F. Hunt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
GROZNY, Chechnya – The President of Chechnya was accused this week of killing two of his political opponents and ordering the murder of a third. The accusations were quickly and summarily denied.
Mr. Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya’s President, was accused on Wednesday of ordering and organizing the killings of Sulim Yamadayev in March 2009 and Ruslan Yamadayev in March 2008. Kadyrov quickly denied the allegations without a statement. His spokesman confirmed this denial today.
Both of the men were political enemies of Mr. Kadyrov, who has been the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya since 2007. Sulim, a former general in the Russian army, was shot in Dubai. Ruslan was shot in Moscow by an unidentified assailant.
The brother of the two men, Isa Yamadayev, sent a letter to a Moscow daily newspaper, Moskovsky Komsomolyets, claiming that he has video evidence that links Mr. Kadyrov to the slayings. The video was obtained legally from a Russian Investigative Committee.
Moskovsky Komsomolyets posted the video on its website. The video shows footage of an interrogation of Isa’s bodyguard, who claimed that Mr. Kadyrov ordered him to kill Isa for $1 million or otherwise his family would be killed.
The bodyguard did attempt to kill Isa in 2009, but Isa survived the murder attempt when he overpowered the bodyguard in his house.
During a meeting with Kadyrov in 2007, the bodyguard claims that the President Kadyrov also told him that Ruslan and Sulim were killed by Kadyrov’s “personal order”.
Previous links between Mr. Kadyrov and the killings have been more speculative. Earlier this month, a Dubai trial court convicted Adam Delinkhanov of organizing the 2009 shooting of Sulim. Mr. Delinkhanov was a close advisor to President Kadyrov.
For more information, please see:
RADIO FREE EUROPE – Chechen Leader’s Spokesman Rejects Assassination Allegations – 23 April 2010
MOSCOW TIMES – Kadyrov Accused of Ordering 3 Yamadayev Murders – 21 April 2010
NEW YORK TIMES – Chechen President Denies Ordering the Killings of 2 of His Opponents – 21 April 2010
