(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
a Russian colonel named Yuryi Bodanov is on trial in Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia. He is accused and charged with raping and killing an 18-year-old Chechen girl named Elza Kongajeva.
The trial started six weeks ago, but so far there have only been three days of court proceedings. During that time, Bodanov's defender, Anatoly Mokhin, has managed to weed out the accusation of rape because, as he says, “forensic scientists have established that the rape took place. by that the girl was dead. ”
This is in stark contrast to what the first forensic scientists claimed, namely that the rape took place about an hour before the girl died. They also claimed to be able to prove that Elza Kongajeva had been maimed with "a blunt and hard object."
This means that Bodanov will at best be convicted of negligent homicide, with a sentence of between three and four years – with the hope of being released sooner. But hints of an outright acquittal have already come. In southern Russia, Bodanov has gained the status of a hero because he acted in the country's interest when he got rid of "a Chechen sniper" – the Russian name for female snipers. "Beria should have stood the test of time in 1944," rallies local journalists covering the trial, referring to the deportation of the entire Chechen population during World War II.
"He should have killed Elza's whole family"
In other words, what was "sold" to the West last year as an attempt to tackle the many atrocities that take place under the auspices of the Russian army in Chechnya has developed into a pure farce. Bodanov perceives, and rightly so, that he must now be sacrificed to come to the ramshackle, international
the criticism of the meeting.
A very ordinary story
Sunday, March 26, 2000. It's a Sunday and the sun is shining. Yuri Bodanov and some other officers celebrate the election victory of Vladimir Putin. It is day off, and the alcohol is flowing in torrents.
Bodanov's right-hand man, Ivan Fyodorov, orders his subordinate, Roman Bagreyev, to open fire on the nearest village of Tangui-Shoi. The purpose is to test the Russian soldiers' willingness to fight – in other words, see if they are tough enough to kill some civilian Chechens or more.
Backbone refuses. But the attack is still set in motion after the conflicting officer has been thrown into a well by his Russian superiors.
During the attack, a house in the village is hit. But nothing more happens at this time, other than the officers continuing to drink.
Later in the evening it is said that units from the Chechen guerrilla will be located in Zarechnaja 7, where Elza lives with her family. Bodanov and three other officers visit the place and break in. Elza is ripped out of bed, tucked into some blanket and carried to it
Russian barracks. Bodanov accuses her of being a Chechen sniper.
After that, no one really knows what is going on except those involved. But at 0400 at night, Bodanov commands two soldiers to bury the body of Elza Kongajeva, completely naked and with marks after abuse. The dead body is dumped in a nearby forest.
It is one of many similar stories in Chechnya, and the end could just as well have been that Elza Kongajeva was never found. But Tangui-Sjoi residents are launching an exploration operation and are finding the badly prepared corpse. A military investigation, believe it or not, is being launched, and Bodanov
admits after pressure to have killed the girl. He defends himself with the killing in a fit of rage.
The investigation goes on and ends in the ongoing trial in Rostov by Don.
To demonstrate their cowardice
So is it right then, that Bodanov is an exception?
On February 21 this year, a mass grave is found in Grozny, just a few hundred meters from the Russian filtration camp – or concentration camp – Khankala. The grave contains over fifty dead bodies, apparently civilian victims of summary executions and extensive torture.
a 14 year old boy, blindfolded and shot twice through the right lung and heart. A 45-year-old mother of three children taken by the Russians when she sold tea and rice on the market, tells relatives who are drawn to the mass grave of rumors. A 37-year-old father of four arrested near a military border post in December last year.
relatives of; a wife and a brother, Chechens who are part of the new Russian administration in Chechnya.
The bodies are characterized by having been in the soil between three and four months. Everyone is tied back, blindfolded, and with gunshots and blades. Ears, islands and teeth have been cut or torn, some have been electrocuted and the body of a man has been scalped.
No one knows who is behind the crime. Russian authorities have made it clear that it is "wrong to assume that Russian soldiers are behind it."
The discovery is made known to Western media by the organizationHuman Rights Watch, the only human rights group still in place in Chechnya. The Russian army "confirms" that these are Chechen soldiers, since those killed wear "Turkish clothes." The army is still launching a kind of investigation.
There will be a farce there too, and on April 2 dishes Human Rights Watch fierce criticism of the international community that permits a bloody, ethnic cleansing in Chechnya. That brings the UN Human Rights Commission to the ground. The Chechen Minister of Health, Omar
Khanbijev, is invited to a hearing on Russian abuse in the small Caucasian Republic.
Also present at the hearing is a Russian delegation. The Russians protest several times during the speech, and finally the commission bends down and makes signs to Khanbijev that he can no longer speak.
It happens after just a few minutes of talk, of the five minutes he had originally made available!
about 90.000 killed, 200.000 wounded and at least as many on the run inside and outside Chechnya – most in the neighboring republic of Ingushetia. It is an unparalleled human tragedy, surpassing even the massive carnage that took place during the previous war; between 1994 and 1996.
Completely different tones
Meanwhile, the Chechen guerrilla continues to make life miserable for the Russian soldiers. In just one day, April 11, eight Russian military were killed, the guerrilla himself reported. Dozens of killed soldiers are sent back to their families every week in a body bag, the Kremlin admits.
After 18 months of war, even Russian public opinion begins to turn; 46,4 percent now express their reluctance for this war, against 42,8 percent who say they are for. This is the first time the proportion of opponents is greater than the proportion of supporters.
Recently, the Russian minister in charge of Chechnya, Vladimir Elagin, admitted that the Russian army does not even have proper control over the capital, Grozny. "The city is out of our control at night, and even during the day we are not safe," he told news agency Ria Novosti.
These are completely different tones than the optimism that the Kremlin has spewed out in relation to winning a final military victory. That victory is far from over, because at the time of writing, the fighting in Chechnya is about to escalate again – and not the other way around.
Last week came the announcement that Russian bombers have resumed cruises in the mountains in the south. This is happening at the same time as President Vladimir Putin is trying to convince the West that the Russian forces are on their way out of Chechnya.
