4 Russian army officers sentenced for murdering Chechen civilians

Moscow, June 14 (UNI) In a rare case, a North Caucasus military court in Rostov-on-Don today ruled prison-terms to four Russian army officers for murdering six Chechen civilians, in January 2002.

The special forces troops received sentence ranging from 9 to14 years, Russian news agencies reported.

Captain Eduard Ulman and three other servicemen were charged with attacking a vehicle and killing its driver and five passengers during a reconnaissance raid, near Dai, a village in the Shatoi region of the war-troubled Chechnya.

The investigation showed that one Chechen died and two were wounded in the initial shooting, when the troops opened fire on the van.

However, the other five Chechens were shot dead after the order was given to destroy all the evidence, the investigation found. A head teacher and a pregnant woman were among the victims.

Two juries acquitted the defendants in the case, but higher courts appealed the verdicts. The case caused great bitterness and controversy in Russia - especially among Chechens.

''The verdict is clearly a mild one, but our primary concern was that a guilty verdict would be handed down. We are satisfied with the ruling, and the number of years the defendants were given is not of great concern to me or my clients," Murat Musayev, the lawyer representing the victims, said.

However, he expressed regret that the verdict could not be enforced immediately due to the absence of three defendants, who were tried in absentia.

''We hope that law enforcers will do their jobs well, and that the defendants will be found,'' RIA Novosti news agency quoted Mr Musayev as saying.

In April, prosecutors demanded that Ulman be sentenced to 23 years in prison and the other three offenders to 18-23 years.

UNI