Trial of former chief of Chechen terrorists headquarters in Stavropolye

A trial of former chief of Chechen terrorists headquarters Said-Magomed Chupalayev was set out on Monday in Pyatigorsk (Russia's South, Stavropolye).

The fellow-fighter of Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev (two leaders of Chechen terrorists), 45-year-old Chupalayev, also known as the "Titanic" was arrested in spring this year in a refugee camp in Ingushetia (Russia's North Caucasian republic, bordering on Chechnya), Prosecutor's Office of the Stavropolsky territory reported. Upon his arrest, he had letters on him from the Chechen terrorists leaders, appealing to Chechen citizens "to resume their active fight against federal forces." In the course of the first Chechen campaign (the mid 1990s) the Titanic occupied an executive position in the headquarters of terrorists and commanded a reconnoitring-sabotage brigade.

In January of 1995, he was wounded in an arm and left for Turkey via Azerbaijan to undergo a treatment in one of the Istanbul hospitals.

In August of 1996, Chupalayev was the chief of a terrorist headquarters and commanded the "Jihad" operation to seize Grozny (capital of Chechnya).

Chupalayev is prosecuted by the Stavropolsky regional court for participation in illegal armed formations, for carrying concealed weapons and for participation in an armed upheaval.