Witnesses in a long-running case on the alleged murders of six civilians by Russian army officers four years ago in Chechnya said Friday that shoot-to-kill orders had come from above.
Captain Eduard Ulman and three other co-defendants are accused of attacking a jeep, killing six locals and burning a car during a reconnaissance mission in the North Caucasus republic in January 2002.
Captain Anton Lukashevich, commander of a scout group at the time, said in court he was near the scene of the attack and heard a radio exchange between Capt. Ulman and duty officer, Major Alexei Perelevsky.
“He [Ulman] said they had fired on a car, reporting one dead and several wounded. After that, he received an order from the duty officer [Perelevsky] to kill those detained, and burn the car,” Lukashevich said.
His testimony was corroborated by two other witnesses.
The judges have adjourned until December 18, when another six witnesses will be questioned. Prosecutors expect about 40 witnesses to appear in court hearings.
The defendants earlier admitted involvement, but denied the charges against them.
Ulman, Perelevsky, Lieutenant Alexander Kalagansky, and warrant officer Vladimir Voyevodin were acquitted twice on charges of murder and abuse of office by the North Caucasus District Military Court in jury trials.
But the Supreme Court upheld an appeal filed by prosecutors and backed by lawyers acting for the victims, and ruled on June 7 that a professional non-jury court should hear the case.
The Constitutional Court ruled April 6 that serious crimes committed in Chechnya could be tried without a jury.
The ruling came following an inquiry made by Chechen President Alu Alkhanov concerning the legality of several articles in laws on military courts that he said gave the military rights not enjoyed by ordinary citizens.
Alkhanov said previously that servicemen suspected of crimes in Chechnya had been tried in front of juries, while ordinary Chechen defendants would only be able to have jury trials as of 2007. He also said the jury in the Ulman case had not included ethnic Chechens, which had influenced the court decision.
Ulman’s defense lawyer Roman Krzhechkovsky earlier said a non-jury trial would most likely result in a guilty verdict with long sentences for his defendants.
“A guilty verdict is predetermined if the case is decided in a professional non-jury court,” he said.
The full-scale military offensive in Chechnya ended in 2000, when federal troops took control of the capital, Grozny. But militants continued resistance in Chechnya for several years and have also carried out bloody terrorist attacks and hostage takings in other Russian regions.
Russian troops in the republic have also drawn international condemnation for human rights violations.
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