Last year two Russian contract soldiers were sentenced for the murder and cruel treatment of peaceful citizens in the Chechen Republic. Owing to the efforts of the Chechen Office of the Committee Against Torture that achieved the initiation of criminal proceedings and represented interests of the victims, on 6 April 2006 the Northern Caucasus Court Martial, having examined the case file of the murder of three Chechen citizens opened against soldier Krivoshenok, sentenced him to eighteen years’ imprisonment in a high security colony.

    On 13 May 2006 the Grozny Garrison Court Martial sentenced another Russian contract soldier Zinchuk to seven years’ imprisonment in a minimum security colony. The case against Mr. Zinchuk had been separated from the criminal case in the framework of which Mr. Krivoshenok was sentenced.   

    In 2007 human rights defenders from the Committee Against Torture filed an application to the Chechen Department of the Federal Service of Officers of Justice for exacting compensation from military unit 98311. As a result victims Bislan Akhmadov and Movsar Munaev got 445 thousand roubles in compensation for non-pecuniary damage.

    You may remember that on 16 November 2005 around seven o’clock in the afternoon junior military intelligence personnel stopped three private cars. Being drunk they made passengers come out of the cars under the threat of weapons. The soldiers started beating those men and searched them, taking away their money and mobile phones. Having laid them faces downwards, Mr. Krivoshenok took out a knife and stabbed Mr. Akhmadov several times (experts found 12 stab-wounds on his head and body). After that Mr. Krivoshenok fired several single shots in the heads of the three men.