March, 14th 2010

Here is an extract from the criminal proceedings number 211, initiated by the ChRI Office of the Prosecutor General on 11 March 2005, upon the ChRI President Aslan Maskhadov’s death.

Since the second half of 2004 various special services of the Russian Federation and their puppet regime in the occupied territory of the ChRI, together with some ChRI officials abroad, who later openly defected to the occupying regime, have circulated rumours about potential peace talks between the Russian Federation and the ChRI. Later the rumours were supplemented with ‘clarifications’ as to the fact that the alleged talks enjoyed the support of German and Swiss mediators. This information was naturally brought to the attention of the Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, who, due to having to lead a clandestine existence and not having a full picture of outside events, and due to receiving regular reports from his representative abroad confirming this information, was taken in by the prospect of such talks.

In Maskhadov’s understanding the initiative was coming from the Russian side, so at the beginning of 2005 the ChRI President declared a unilateral moratorium on offensive military operations. This decision was met with approval in the rest of the world. The moratorium showed Russia in a very unfavourable light: the whole world could see the falsehood of the Russian leadership’s assertions that Maskhadov allegedly had lost control of the Resistance military units and that it was therefore ‘pointless to hold talks with him’. World leaders started to put diplomatic pressure on Moscow, urging Russia’s leaders to resolve the Russian-Chechen conflict by peaceful political means.

At the end of February 2005 President Maskhadov received, via Chechen intermediaries, a proposal from the Russian side to hold a meeting on possible peace talks. For that purpose it was suggested that A.Maskhadov meet Russian representatives who would take him to the place of the talks under guarantees of his safety. The named place for the proposed talks was one of the villages of the Nadterechny district. The Chechen President gave his agreement in principle. Early on 6 March 2005 A.Maskhadov arrived at the location of the talks accompanied by the intermediaries.  By then a special FSB group had been brought there from Moscow.

In the morning of March 6, A.Maskhadov met with a high-ranking Russian official. However, instead of holding talks with him, the official presented the President with an ultimatum that he should publicly resign from office, ‘repent’ and call on the Chechen fighters to lay down arms upon amnesty guarantees and upon being given a right to leave for any foreign country. The Chechen President strongly rejected such suggestions after which he was treacherously murdered. The Russian secret services had been ordered by the Russian President Putin to kill A.Maskhadov if he refused to accept Moscow’s proposals.  Later, on 8 March, the body of the Chechen leader was transferred to the village of Tolstoy Yurt, to the house of M.Yusupov where A.Maskhadov had previously stayed for several days.

The investigators have established the names of the main accomplices in the conspiracy as well as the place where the crime was committed. However, in the interests of the ongoing investigation this information is to remain classified.

The ChRI acting Prosecutor General
I. Bagashev

ChechenCenter.info