Adjournment Announced In Trial Of Chechen Terrorist Raduev

The trial of Salman Raduev and his three accomplices, which is being held at the Supreme Court in Dagestan, has been adjourned until Monday, December 10. This RIA Novosti correspondent has been informed that the court sitting is devoting itself to the study of a 130-volume criminal case. The case includes details of the medical examinations made at the crime scene following the Chechen rebel attack on the Dagestani city of Kizlyar in January 1996 and the subsequent military action against federal forces and police in the village of Pervomajskoe, and also other documentation. On Friday, the court heard testimony from one of the witnesses, Izudin Salikhov, head of the Pervomajskoe administration. He stated that the refusal by more than 300 residents to appear as witnesses at the trial could be explained by their reluctance to relive again "those tragic events as they see warlords caged in the dock".