Akhmed Zakayev
Encyclopedia
Akhmed Khalidovich Zakayev (born April 26, 1959 in Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
) is the former Deputy Prime Minister
and the current Prime Minister
of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
(ChRI), which is unrecognised by other countries. He was also the Foreign Minister
of the Ichkeria
n government, appointed by Aslan Maskhadov
shortly after his 1997 election, and again in 2006 by Abdul Halim Sadulayev. During the First Chechen war
Zakayev took part in the battles for Grozny
and other military operations, as well as in high-level negotiations with the Russia
n side.
In 2002 Russia accused him, by then in exile
, of having been involved in a series of crimes including involvement in acts of terrorism
. In 2003 the British
court rejected the extradition
request due to lack of evidence and declared the accusations to be politically motivated, also saying that there was substantial risk of Zakayev being torture
d if he was returned to Moscow
.
, in Kazakhstan
; his family was deported by Stalin
's regime along with the rest of the Chechens in 1944. He graduated from acting
and choreography
schools in Voronezh
and Moscow and worked as an actor
at a theatre in the Chechen capital Grozny
, specializing in a Shakespearean
roles. Since 1991, he was the chairman of the Chechen Union of the Theatrical Actors. In 1994, Zakayev became a Minister of Culture
in the Chechen separatist government of Dzhokhar Dudayev.
, Zakayev left his job and took up weapons. Serving at first as a minor commander in the unit of Ruslan Gelayev, he took part in the 1995 battle of Grozny and then led the defence of the village of Goyskoye. After this the armed group under his command operated in the south-west part of Chechnya with its headquarters in the town of Urus-Martan
. He was eventually promoted to the rank of Brigadier General
and appointed commander of the Urus-Martan Front. In February 1996, Zakayev became commander of the entire Western Group of Defense of Ichkeria. In August 1996, his forces took part in the decisive raid on Grozny
, where he personally led the attack on the city's central railway station. Zakayev's war service paved his way to Chechen high politics. He became the acting president
Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev
's advisor for the security matters and the secretary of the Chechen Security Council and represented Chechnya at the peace talks in Khasav-Yurt
, which brought a peaceful end to the first armed conflict between Moscow and Grozny.
After the war, Zakayev became Chechen Deputy Prime Minister
(in charge of education
and culture
) and a special envoy of elected President of Ichkeria
Aslan Maskhadov
for relations with Moscow, taking part in the delegation that signed the official Chechen-Russian peace treaty
at the Kremlin in 1997. During the interwar period, he opposed the rise of radical Islam in Chechnya and co-authored a book entitled Wahhabism
- the Kremlin's remedy against national liberation movement
s, alleging an association between Islamist
extremism and Soviet global "pro-terrorist
" policy and support for dictatorships in the Muslim world
. During the early phases of the Second Chechen War
in 1999-2000, Zakayev commanded Maskhadov's presidential guard; he was also involved in negotiations with Russia
n representatives before and during the resumed hostilities. In 2000, having been wounded in a car accident
during the new siege of Grozny
, he left Chechnya for treatment. After this he stayed abroad and became President Maskhadov's most prominent representative in Western Europe
, while Ilyas Akhmadov
was the Chechen emissary to the United States
.
. On November 18, 2001, Zakayev, officially internationally wanted by Russia, flew from Turkey
to the Sheremetyevo International Airport
near Moscow
to meet the Kremlin's envoy, General Viktor Kazantsev
for the high-level talks since the start of the war. These negotiations were fruitless because Kazantsev demanded a complete capitulation
of the Chechen side, with the only acceptable topic for the Russian side being the disarmament of Chechen separatists and their re-integration into civilian life. On July 18, 2002, Zakayev also met with the former Secretary of Security Council of Russia
Ivan Rybkin
in Zürich
, Switzerland
.
After receiving political asylum in Britain in 2003, Zakayev made London
his permanent residence, and he visited several countries (including France
, Germany
and Poland
) without being arrested. During the September 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis
, Zakayev consented to the request of the civilian negotiators and authorities of North Ossetia-Alania
to fly to Russia to negotiate with the hostage takers. However, the siege ended in bloody confusion just a few hours before this could happen. As an envoy of Maskhadov, he also met in London with the representatives of the Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia
in February 2005, where they agreed on a peace proposal centred around a gradual cessation of violence by rebels corresponding with the three-week ceasefire
unilaterally declared by Maskhadov (who once again called for President of Russia Vladimir Putin
to negotiate). These efforts were ignored by the Russian government and Maskhadov himself was soon killed in Chechnya.
On October 31, 2007, Zakayev officially distanced himself from the newly-resigned Chechen separatist leader Doku Umarov
and the Chechen Islamist ideologist Movladi Udugov
, who together had declared the creation of Caucasus Emirate
in the place of abolished ChRI. In response, Zakayev called for the remnants of the separatist parliament to form the new government and salvage legitimacy. Soon after, on November 20, 2007, Zakayev has submitted his resignation from the ministerial post, but said this should not be viewed as a departure from "the fight for our independence, our freedom, and for the recognition of our state". In November 2007 Zakayev announced that a meeting of parliamentaries remaining loyal to the idea of Ichkeria elected him the Prime Minister of the Chechen government in exile
. In September 2008, Ramzan Kadyrov said he was now trying to persuade Chechens refugees and exiles to return, including Akhmed Zakayev, whom Kadyrov described as "a valuable artist who would be welcome to return to help revive Chechnya's cultural heritage
." Zakayev and Alla Dudayeva
, the widow of the first Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev, accused Udugov of being a paid agent provocateur
for the Russia's FSB.
In October 2002, Zakayev organized the World Chechen Congress in Copenhagen
, Denmark
(which was attended among others by the former first speaker of the State Duma
, Ruslan Khasbulatov
). During the congress, Zakayev was accused by Russia
of involvement in planning of the Moscow theater hostage crisis
. He was detained there on October 30, 2002, under an Interpol
warrant filed by Russia, which named him a suspect in the theater siege. Zakayev denied involvement in the theater capture. He was held in Denmark for five weeks and then released due to lack of evidence
, as Russia's formal extradition
request did not include any evidence linking him to the siege.
On December 7, 2002, Zakayev returned to the UK but the British authorities arrested him briefly at London Heathrow Airport
; he was released on 50,000 GBP
bail
, which was paid by British actress Vanessa Redgrave
, his friend who had travelled with him from Denmark. He was accused by Russian authorities of 13 criminal acts Zakayev welcomed the British deportation
hearings as an opportunity to put his case before an international public. All accusations were proven to be false. One accusation, cutting fingers of a suspected FSB informer Ivan Solovyov, was based on a written testimony
by Zakayev's former bodyguard, Duk-Vakha Dushuyev, provided by Russian authorities; however, it appeared that Solovyev had lost his fingers much earlier to frostbite
. Dushuyev himself has escaped from Russia and then in a dramatic statement told the court that he was tortured at a Russian army base with electric shocks to extort the false testimony to be used against Zakayev. In another accusation, Father Sergei, one of two Russian Orthodox Church
priests allegedly murdered by Zakayev, turned out to be in fact still alive. The witness Reverend Filipp, allegedly kidnapped by Zakayev in 1996, also refuted his supposed testimony
and even denounced Russian authorities for "implicating the Church in politics". Leading Russian human rights
activist Sergei Kovalev
told the court Zakayev would be at risk of death in Russian captivity (Kovalev spoke about two high-profile Chechen prisoners, field commanders Salman Raduyev
and Turpal-Ali Atgeriyev, who died soon after being jailed in Russia, and of another, parliamentary speaker Ruslan Alikhadzhiyev
, who has "disappeared" without trace after his arrest in 2000). According to Alexander Goldfarb
, one of the defence's most important arguments was the 2001 meeting between Zakayev and General Kazantsev, since this meeting took place when the Chechen envoy had already been put by Russia on the international wanted list. At the time of the meeting Kremlin's spokesman
on Chechnya Sergei Yastrzhembsky said on television that Russian government had no grievances against Zakayev. Therefore, on November 13, 2003, Judge
Timothy Workman
rejected the Russian request, deciding that it was politically motivated and that Zakayev would be at risk of torture
in the case of "unjust and oppressive" extradition. The judge also said the crimes which involved Zakayev allegedly using armed force against combatant
s were not extraditable because they took place in the situation of internal armed conflict
. Russian authorities in turn responded by accusing the court of double standards. On November 29, 2003, it was announced that Zakayev had been granted political asylum in the UK.
In London, Zakayev became friends with the Russian dissident
and former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko
, later murdered by radioactive poisoning
in November 2006; Zakayev accused the Russian President Putin of ordering the death of Litvinenko. In 2007, British police warned Zakayev that there was an increased threat to his personal security shortly before the alleged attempt to kill Berezovsky by the FSB-connected Chechen gangster Movladi Atlangeriyev
(or "Mr A"). According to the KGB
defector
Oleg Gordievsky
in 2008, Zakayev was placed #2 on the FSB assassination
list, between Berezovsky and Litvinenko. In January 2008, Zakayev's name showed up on the purported hit list of Ramzan Kadyrov's enemies abroad to be killed, which was published on the Internet
following the murder of the Chechen dissident Umar Israilov
(a former bodyguard of Kadyrov who was shot dead after receiving asylum in Austria
). He was arrested by the Polish police during his visit to Poland on the 17th of September 2010. He was released the same day.
" for Russia's fugitives
, including Zakayev, still-wanted on terrorism charges. In an interview for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Zakayev claimed to rebuff the Chechen president's reported offer and said that Kadyrov was only following the Kremlin's orders; he also reinstates this stance two days later in the interview for the BBC Russian Service
. Kadyrov has said that "He [Zakayev] is the only man on the part of Ichkeria who I would like to bring back home. I do not know what the competent bodies think, but I believe he did not commit serious crimes."
Nevertheless, on February 17, the Russian state agency RIA Novosti agency wrote that Zakayev allegedly announced his intentions to return to Chechnya and "work for a lasting peace" in the republic. According to the Caucasus Emirate's mouthpiece Kavkaz Center
, Zakayev, who may be granted amnesty
, stated his readiness to return and "contribute to a long-term peace in the region" in an interview for Ekho Moskvy on the same day. Kavkazcenter - which supports Umarov - has called Zakayev "the head of a telephone government," referring to the fact that Zakayev has little influence on the insurgents on the ground.
Articles
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
) is the former Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...
and the current Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is the unrecognized secessionist government of Chechnya. The republic was proclaimed in late 1991 by Dzokhar Dudayev, and fought two devastating wars between separatists and the Russian Federation which denounced secession...
(ChRI), which is unrecognised by other countries. He was also the Foreign Minister
Foreign minister
A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
of the Ichkeria
Ichkeria
Ichkeria can refer to:* Ichkeria , the historical Turkic name for a region more or less coinciding with the Republic of Chechnya* Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, the secessionist government of Chechnya...
n government, appointed by Aslan Maskhadov
Aslan Maskhadov
Aslan Aliyevich Maskhadov was a leader of the Chechen separatist movement and the third President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.He was credited by many with the Chechen victory in the First Chechen War, which allowed for the...
shortly after his 1997 election, and again in 2006 by Abdul Halim Sadulayev. During the First Chechen war
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
Zakayev took part in the battles for Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
and other military operations, as well as in high-level negotiations with the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n side.
In 2002 Russia accused him, by then in exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
, of having been involved in a series of crimes including involvement in acts of terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
. In 2003 the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
court rejected the extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
request due to lack of evidence and declared the accusations to be politically motivated, also saying that there was substantial risk of Zakayev being torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d if he was returned to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
Early life
Akhmed Zakayev was born in 1959 in the settlement of Kirovskiy, which is now in Almaty ProvinceAlmaty Province
Almaty is a province of Kazakhstan. Its capital is Taldykorgan, which has a population of 118,400. The province itself has 1,603,700 people.-Geography:...
, in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
; his family was deported by Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's regime along with the rest of the Chechens in 1944. He graduated from acting
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
and choreography
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
schools in Voronezh
Voronezh
Voronezh is a city in southwestern Russia, the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is located on both sides of the Voronezh River, away from where it flows into the Don. It is an operating center of the Southeastern Railway , as well as the center of the Don Highway...
and Moscow and worked as an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
at a theatre in the Chechen capital Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
, specializing in a Shakespearean
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
roles. Since 1991, he was the chairman of the Chechen Union of the Theatrical Actors. In 1994, Zakayev became a Minister of Culture
Minister of culture
A culture minister is a Cabinet position in some governments responsible for protecting the national heritage of a country and promoting cultural expression....
in the Chechen separatist government of Dzhokhar Dudayev.
Chechen wars and the interwar period
After Russian forces entered Chechnya, starting the First Chechen WarFirst Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
, Zakayev left his job and took up weapons. Serving at first as a minor commander in the unit of Ruslan Gelayev, he took part in the 1995 battle of Grozny and then led the defence of the village of Goyskoye. After this the armed group under his command operated in the south-west part of Chechnya with its headquarters in the town of Urus-Martan
Urus-Martan
Urus-Martan is a town and the administrative center of Urus-Martanovsky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Martan River. The town is located in the central part of the republic, to the southwest of the capital Grozny. Population:...
. He was eventually promoted to the rank of Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
and appointed commander of the Urus-Martan Front. In February 1996, Zakayev became commander of the entire Western Group of Defense of Ichkeria. In August 1996, his forces took part in the decisive raid on Grozny
Battle of Grozny (August 1996)
In the August 1996 Battle of Grozny Chechen rebels conducted a rapid assault on the Chechnya capital Grozny. This led to the final ceasefire in the First Chechen War....
, where he personally led the attack on the city's central railway station. Zakayev's war service paved his way to Chechen high politics. He became the acting president
Acting president
An Acting President is a person who temporarily fills the role of an organization's or country's president, either when the real president is unavailable or when the post is vacant .-See also:*Acting *Acting President of Pakistan*Acting President of Malta*Acting President of...
Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev
Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev
Zelimkhan Abdumuslimovich Yandarbiyev was a Chechen writer and a politician, who served as acting president of the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria between 1996 and 1997...
's advisor for the security matters and the secretary of the Chechen Security Council and represented Chechnya at the peace talks in Khasav-Yurt
Khasav-Yurt Accord
Khasavyurt Accord was an agreement that marked the end of the First Chechen War, signed in Khasavyurt in Dagestan on August 30, 1996 between Alexander Lebed and Aslan Maskhadov....
, which brought a peaceful end to the first armed conflict between Moscow and Grozny.
After the war, Zakayev became Chechen Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...
(in charge of education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
) and a special envoy of elected President of Ichkeria
President of Ichkeria
This is a list of Presidents of the unrecognised Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, a pro-independence movement that controlled most of Chechnya from 1991 to 1999...
Aslan Maskhadov
Aslan Maskhadov
Aslan Aliyevich Maskhadov was a leader of the Chechen separatist movement and the third President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.He was credited by many with the Chechen victory in the First Chechen War, which allowed for the...
for relations with Moscow, taking part in the delegation that signed the official Chechen-Russian peace treaty
Peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a state of war between the parties...
at the Kremlin in 1997. During the interwar period, he opposed the rise of radical Islam in Chechnya and co-authored a book entitled Wahhabism
Wahhabism
Wahhabism is a religious movement or a branch of Islam. It was developed by an 18th century Muslim theologian from Najd, Saudi Arabia. Ibn Abdul Al-Wahhab advocated purging Islam of what he considered to be impurities and innovations...
- the Kremlin's remedy against national liberation movement
National Liberation Movement
A national liberation movement is an organization engaged in a war of national liberation.National Liberation Movement may also refer to:* Movement of National Liberation, a leftist party founded by former Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas...
s, alleging an association between Islamist
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
extremism and Soviet global "pro-terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
" policy and support for dictatorships in the Muslim world
Muslim world
The term Muslim world has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization...
. During the early phases of the Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
in 1999-2000, Zakayev commanded Maskhadov's presidential guard; he was also involved in negotiations with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n representatives before and during the resumed hostilities. In 2000, having been wounded in a car accident
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
during the new siege of Grozny
Battle of Grozny (1999–2000)
The 1999–2000 battle of Grozny was the siege and assault of the Chechen capital Grozny by Russian forces, lasting from late 1999 to early 2000. The siege and fighting left the capital devastated...
, he left Chechnya for treatment. After this he stayed abroad and became President Maskhadov's most prominent representative in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, while Ilyas Akhmadov
Ilyas Akhmadov
Ilyas Khamzatovich Akhmadov served as the foreign minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. He currently resides in the United States, where he was granted political asylum.-Biography:...
was the Chechen emissary to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In exile
Since January 2002, Zakayev and his immediate family are residing permanently in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. On November 18, 2001, Zakayev, officially internationally wanted by Russia, flew from Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
to the Sheremetyevo International Airport
Sheremetyevo International Airport
Sheremetyevo International Airport , is an international airport located in the Moscow Oblast, Russia, north-west of central Moscow. It is a hub for the passenger operations of the Russian international airline Aeroflot, and one of the three major airports serving Moscow along with Domodedovo...
near Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
to meet the Kremlin's envoy, General Viktor Kazantsev
Viktor Kazantsev
Viktor Germanovich Kazantsev , born 1946, was an envoy of the Russian president to the Southern Federal District from 2000 to 2004. He performed primary negotiations between the Russian government and the Chechen opposition...
for the high-level talks since the start of the war. These negotiations were fruitless because Kazantsev demanded a complete capitulation
Capitulation (surrender)
Capitulation , an agreement in time of war for the surrender to a hostile armed force of a particular body of troops, a town or a territory....
of the Chechen side, with the only acceptable topic for the Russian side being the disarmament of Chechen separatists and their re-integration into civilian life. On July 18, 2002, Zakayev also met with the former Secretary of Security Council of Russia
Security Council of Russia
The Security Council of the Russian Federation is a consultative body of the Russian President that works out the President's decisions on national security affairs...
Ivan Rybkin
Ivan Rybkin
Ivan Petrovich Rybkin is a Russian politician; was Chairman of Russia's State Duma in 1994–96 and Secretary of the Security Council in 1996–98.-Early life:...
in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
After receiving political asylum in Britain in 2003, Zakayev made London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
his permanent residence, and he visited several countries (including France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) without being arrested. During the September 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis
Beslan school hostage crisis
The Beslan school hostage crisis of early September 2004 was a three-day hostage-taking of over 1,100 people which ended in the deaths of over 380...
, Zakayev consented to the request of the civilian negotiators and authorities of North Ossetia-Alania
North Ossetia-Alania
The Republic of North Ossetia–Alania is a federal subject of Russia . Its population according to the 2010 Census was 712,877.-Name:...
to fly to Russia to negotiate with the hostage takers. However, the siege ended in bloody confusion just a few hours before this could happen. As an envoy of Maskhadov, he also met in London with the representatives of the Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia
Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia
The Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia works to expose human rights violations within the Russian military.The organization was founded in 1989. Before 1998, it was known as the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia....
in February 2005, where they agreed on a peace proposal centred around a gradual cessation of violence by rebels corresponding with the three-week ceasefire
Ceasefire
A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces...
unilaterally declared by Maskhadov (who once again called for President of Russia Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
to negotiate). These efforts were ignored by the Russian government and Maskhadov himself was soon killed in Chechnya.
On October 31, 2007, Zakayev officially distanced himself from the newly-resigned Chechen separatist leader Doku Umarov
Doku Umarov
Doku Khamatovich Umarov is a major Chechen Islamist rebel militant in Russia. He is responsible for numerous terror attacks on civilians, earning himself the nickname "Russia's Osama Bin Laden"....
and the Chechen Islamist ideologist Movladi Udugov
Movladi Udugov
Movladi Saidarbievich Udugov was the First Deputy Prime Minister of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria...
, who together had declared the creation of Caucasus Emirate
Caucasus Emirate
The Caucasus Emirate also known as the Caucasian Emirate is a self-proclaimed virtual state entity, partially successor to the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and was officially announced on October 31, 2007 by former President of Ichkeria Dokka Umarov, who became the first Emir...
in the place of abolished ChRI. In response, Zakayev called for the remnants of the separatist parliament to form the new government and salvage legitimacy. Soon after, on November 20, 2007, Zakayev has submitted his resignation from the ministerial post, but said this should not be viewed as a departure from "the fight for our independence, our freedom, and for the recognition of our state". In November 2007 Zakayev announced that a meeting of parliamentaries remaining loyal to the idea of Ichkeria elected him the Prime Minister of the Chechen government in exile
Government in exile
A government in exile is a political group that claims to be a country's legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usually operate under the assumption that they will one day return to their...
. In September 2008, Ramzan Kadyrov said he was now trying to persuade Chechens refugees and exiles to return, including Akhmed Zakayev, whom Kadyrov described as "a valuable artist who would be welcome to return to help revive Chechnya's cultural heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
." Zakayev and Alla Dudayeva
Alla Dudayeva
Alla Fyodorovna Dudayeva née Kulikova is a widow of Dzhokhar Dudayev, leader of the Chechen independence movement from Russia in the 1990s....
, the widow of the first Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev, accused Udugov of being a paid agent provocateur
Agent provocateur
Traditionally, an agent provocateur is a person employed by the police or other entity to act undercover to entice or provoke another person to commit an illegal act...
for the Russia's FSB.
In October 2002, Zakayev organized the World Chechen Congress in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
(which was attended among others by the former first speaker of the State Duma
State Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
, Ruslan Khasbulatov
Ruslan Khasbulatov
Ruslan Imranovich Khasbulatov is a Russian economist and politician of Chechen descent who played a central role in the events leading to the 1993 constitutional crisis in the Russian Federation.-Early life:...
). During the congress, Zakayev was accused by Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
of involvement in planning of the Moscow theater hostage crisis
Moscow theater hostage crisis
The Moscow theater hostage crisis, also known as the 2002 Nord-Ost siege, was the seizure of the crowded Dubrovka Theater on 23 October 2002 by some 40 to 50 armed Chechens who claimed allegiance to the Islamist militant separatist movement in Chechnya. They took 850 hostages and demanded the...
. He was detained there on October 30, 2002, under an Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
warrant filed by Russia, which named him a suspect in the theater siege. Zakayev denied involvement in the theater capture. He was held in Denmark for five weeks and then released due to lack of evidence
Evidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
, as Russia's formal extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
request did not include any evidence linking him to the siege.
On December 7, 2002, Zakayev returned to the UK but the British authorities arrested him briefly at London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
; he was released on 50,000 GBP
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
, which was paid by British actress Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
, his friend who had travelled with him from Denmark. He was accused by Russian authorities of 13 criminal acts Zakayev welcomed the British deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
hearings as an opportunity to put his case before an international public. All accusations were proven to be false. One accusation, cutting fingers of a suspected FSB informer Ivan Solovyov, was based on a written testimony
Testimony
In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. All testimonies should be well thought out and truthful. It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on a Bible when taking an oath...
by Zakayev's former bodyguard, Duk-Vakha Dushuyev, provided by Russian authorities; however, it appeared that Solovyev had lost his fingers much earlier to frostbite
Frostbite
Frostbite is the medical condition where localized damage is caused to skin and other tissues due to extreme cold. Frostbite is most likely to happen in body parts farthest from the heart and those with large exposed areas...
. Dushuyev himself has escaped from Russia and then in a dramatic statement told the court that he was tortured at a Russian army base with electric shocks to extort the false testimony to be used against Zakayev. In another accusation, Father Sergei, one of two Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
priests allegedly murdered by Zakayev, turned out to be in fact still alive. The witness Reverend Filipp, allegedly kidnapped by Zakayev in 1996, also refuted his supposed testimony
Testimony
In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. All testimonies should be well thought out and truthful. It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on a Bible when taking an oath...
and even denounced Russian authorities for "implicating the Church in politics". Leading Russian human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activist Sergei Kovalev
Sergei Kovalev
Sergei Kovalev is a Russian human rights activist and politician and a former Soviet dissident and political prisoner.- Early career and arrest :...
told the court Zakayev would be at risk of death in Russian captivity (Kovalev spoke about two high-profile Chechen prisoners, field commanders Salman Raduyev
Salman Raduyev
Salman Raduyev was a Chechen separatist warlord considered to be one of the most radical and notorious Chechen rebel commanders of the period between 1994 and 1999...
and Turpal-Ali Atgeriyev, who died soon after being jailed in Russia, and of another, parliamentary speaker Ruslan Alikhadzhiyev
Ruslan Alikhadzhiyev
Ruslan Shamilevich Alikhadzhiev was a parliamentary speaker of the Chechnya who was forcibly disappeared by Russian forces in 2000.-Life:Alikhadzhiev was born in 1961 and fought in the First Chechen War as a field commander. In the years 1997-1999 he was the Chairman of the Parliament of Chechen...
, who has "disappeared" without trace after his arrest in 2000). According to Alexander Goldfarb
Alexander Goldfarb (microbiologist)
Alexander Davidovich Goldfarb is a Russian-American microbiologist, activist, and author. He emigrated from the USSR in 1975 and lived in Israel and Germany before settling permanently in New York in 1982. Goldfarb is a naturalized American citizen...
, one of the defence's most important arguments was the 2001 meeting between Zakayev and General Kazantsev, since this meeting took place when the Chechen envoy had already been put by Russia on the international wanted list. At the time of the meeting Kremlin's spokesman
Spokesman
A spokesperson or spokesman or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others.In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have received formal training in journalism, communications, public relations and...
on Chechnya Sergei Yastrzhembsky said on television that Russian government had no grievances against Zakayev. Therefore, on November 13, 2003, Judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
Timothy Workman
Timothy Workman
Senior District Judge Timothy Workman CBE is a leading British judge, a long-term stipendiary magistrate who serves as Senior District Judge and Chief Magistrate for London....
rejected the Russian request, deciding that it was politically motivated and that Zakayev would be at risk of torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
in the case of "unjust and oppressive" extradition. The judge also said the crimes which involved Zakayev allegedly using armed force against combatant
Combatant
A combatant is someone who takes a direct part in the hostilities of an armed conflict. If a combatant follows the law of war, then they are considered a privileged combatant, and upon capture they qualify as a prisoner of war under the Third Geneva Convention...
s were not extraditable because they took place in the situation of internal armed conflict
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
. Russian authorities in turn responded by accusing the court of double standards. On November 29, 2003, it was announced that Zakayev had been granted political asylum in the UK.
In London, Zakayev became friends with the Russian dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
and former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Litvinenko
Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko was an officer who served in the Soviet KGB and its Russian successor, the Federal Security Service ....
, later murdered by radioactive poisoning
Alexander Litvinenko poisoning
Alexander Litvinenko was a former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service, FSB and KGB, who escaped prosecution in Russia and received political asylum in the United Kingdom...
in November 2006; Zakayev accused the Russian President Putin of ordering the death of Litvinenko. In 2007, British police warned Zakayev that there was an increased threat to his personal security shortly before the alleged attempt to kill Berezovsky by the FSB-connected Chechen gangster Movladi Atlangeriyev
Movladi Atlangeriyev
Movladi Atlangeriyev is a reputed Chechen mafia boss and founder of the so-called Lazanskaya crime group, known by the nicknames "Lord", "Lenin" and "The Italian"...
(or "Mr A"). According to the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
defector
Defection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
Oleg Gordievsky
Oleg Gordievsky
Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky , CMG , is a former Colonel of the KGB and KGB Resident-designate and bureau chief in London, who was a secret agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1974 to 1985.-Early career:Oleg Gordievsky attended the Moscow State Institute of International...
in 2008, Zakayev was placed #2 on the FSB assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
list, between Berezovsky and Litvinenko. In January 2008, Zakayev's name showed up on the purported hit list of Ramzan Kadyrov's enemies abroad to be killed, which was published on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
following the murder of the Chechen dissident Umar Israilov
Umar Israilov
Umar S. Israilov was a former bodyguard of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov who became a critic of the Chechen regime...
(a former bodyguard of Kadyrov who was shot dead after receiving asylum in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
). He was arrested by the Polish police during his visit to Poland on the 17th of September 2010. He was released the same day.
Invitation to return to Chechnya
On February 11, 2009, Ramzan Kadyrov said he personally invited Zakayev to return to Chechnya if he doesn't want to be "used by special services and other forces against Russia". At the same time, Russia's ambassador in London, said Britain had turned into a "sanctuarySanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
" for Russia's fugitives
Fugitives
The Fugitives were a group of poets and literary scholars who came together at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, around 1920. They published a small literary magazine called The Fugitive from 1922-1925 which showcased their works...
, including Zakayev, still-wanted on terrorism charges. In an interview for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Zakayev claimed to rebuff the Chechen president's reported offer and said that Kadyrov was only following the Kremlin's orders; he also reinstates this stance two days later in the interview for the BBC Russian Service
BBC Russian Service
The BBC Russian Service was part of the BBC World Service's foreign language output, one of 33 languages it provided.-History:The BBC Russian Service began broadcasting on 26 March 1946....
. Kadyrov has said that "He [Zakayev] is the only man on the part of Ichkeria who I would like to bring back home. I do not know what the competent bodies think, but I believe he did not commit serious crimes."
Nevertheless, on February 17, the Russian state agency RIA Novosti agency wrote that Zakayev allegedly announced his intentions to return to Chechnya and "work for a lasting peace" in the republic. According to the Caucasus Emirate's mouthpiece Kavkaz Center
Kavkaz Center
The Kavkaz Center is a privately run website by pro-Chechen which aims to be "a Chechen internet agency which is independent, international and Islamic" that "does not represent the viewpoint of any state structures"...
, Zakayev, who may be granted amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
, stated his readiness to return and "contribute to a long-term peace in the region" in an interview for Ekho Moskvy on the same day. Kavkazcenter - which supports Umarov - has called Zakayev "the head of a telephone government," referring to the fact that Zakayev has little influence on the insurgents on the ground.
2010 Arrest and release
In 2010, he was arrested in Poland by police upon arrival for participating in a conference of Chechens. He was later released when the judge ruled that he could not be held due to his political asylum status in the UK. He has since returned to the UK.External links
- Who is Akhmed Zakayev?, BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
- Profile: Akhmed Zakayev, Chechnya's voice on UK stage, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, September 2008 - The Zakayev Case at Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
Охота на Закаева (about the British extradition case)
Articles
- Corin Redgrave: A great actor, held prisoner by Russia's dirty war, The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 2 November 2002 - Zakayev: Key Chechen figure, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 6 December 2002 - Chechen actor who took up the gun to fight for freedom, The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 7 December 2002 - Chechen in Extradition Dispute: Criminal or Peacemaker?, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, December 9, 2002 - Let Mr Zakayev stay; Chechen leader should not be extradited, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, December 13, 2002 - Sharing a glass with the 'international terrorist', The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, December 22, 2002 - Breakfast with Frost | Redgrave Zakayev, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, January 5, 2003 - Why cast me as a criminal?, The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, January 31, 2003 - The courts tell the truth about Russian democracy that Mr Blair dare not, The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 14 November 2003 - Beslan was barbaric - so has been Russia's reign of terror in Chechnya, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, September 7, 2004 - More false testimonies against Zakayev being extorted by torture, ChechenpressChechenpressState Information Agency Chechenpress is the news agency of the Chechen separatists who proclaim themselves to be the representatives of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria...
, 6 October 2006 - Poisoned spy became Muslim on deathbed, says Chechen dissident, The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 9 December 2006 - I will not be silenced, says Russia critic, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 14 December 2006 - Akhmed Zakayev may face serious troubles, Russia TodayRussia TodayRussia Today may refer to:* Russia Today, an English language 24-hour television news channel from Russia. It was launched in 2005 and is not related to an online news service of the similar name operated by EIN News...
, February 17, 2007 - Umarov's Caucasian Emirate: Where for now for Akhmed Zakayev?, Central Asia-Caucasus InstituteCentral Asia-Caucasus InstituteThe Central Asia-Caucasus Institute or CACI was founded by S. Frederick Starr, a research professor at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. He has served as vice president of Tulane University and as president of Oberlin College and the Aspen Institute. He has...
, 01/23/2008 - Mysterious Shifts in Chechnya, The St. Petersburg Times, May 23, 2008 (by Thomas de WaalThomas de WaalThomas Patrick Lowndes de Waal , is a British journalist, writer and an expert on the Caucasus. Thomas is the son of Anglican priest Victor de Waal and of writer on religion Esther de Waal, brother of Africa specialist Alex de Waal, John de Waal, barrister and potter and writer Edmund de...
) - Zakayev's appearance on the Chechen stage indefinitely postponed, Prague WatchdogPrague WatchdogPrague Watchdog was an English, Czech and Russian-language Prague-based on-line service that collected and disseminated information on the crisis in Chechnya and reporting on the conflict in the North Caucasus, focusing on human rights, humanitarian situation, media access and coverage, and the...
, February 17h 2009