Trial Of Terrorist Suspects Moved From Moscow To Stavropol Territory

Trial of five people from Karachai-Circassia (a North Caucasian republic, part of the Russian Federation), accused of preparing terrorist acts in several Russian cities, Moscow last August for one, has been moved to the Stavropol territorial court (the Stavropol territory is adjacent to Karachai-Circassia). The RIA Novosti correspondent quoted Ivan Nesterenko, member of the Supreme Court of Karachai-Circassia, as saying this on Saturday. The accused are Aslan and Marat Bastanov, Muratbi Tuganbayev, Muratbi Bairamukov and Taukan Frantsuzov. According to Nesterenko, the relocation of the trial, begun two months ago at the Supreme Court of Karachai- Circassia, is explained by a recent ruling of the Russian Supreme Court to satisfy a request of the accused persons' lawyers to move the case to the Stavropol Territory. Actually, it has trial by jury, absent in Karachai-Circassia. Meanwhile, Cherkessk as the initial setting of place for these proceedings, Nesterenko said, was chosen because the five accused engaged in preparing the explosions particularly in that republic. The accused had passed a course of training at a Khattab camp in Chechnya and were participants in rebel groups under the command of field commanders Gochiyayev and Krymshamkhalov.

Visit www.rian.ru for RIA 'Novosti' news.