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| Dagestani mayor pleads not guilty to terror charges |
| 2014-04-26 |
| Former Makhachkala Mayor Said Amirov and his nephew Yusup Dzhaparov on Thursday have pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges. A long-term member of the ruling United Russia party, Amirov served as mayor of Makhachkala from 1998 until 2013. On October 28, Amirov was charged with terrorism and illegal arms trafficking. Investigators said that the defendants planned to fire at a plane carrying Amirov's political opponent Sagid Murtazaliyev by a portable air defense system. Earlier, Amirov was also charged with the 2011 murder of investigator Arsen Gadzhibekov in the city of Kaspiysk. On June 1, 2013, he was arrested and brought to Moscow, where he was taken into custody. Amirov has called the case politically motivated. Gadzhibekov was gunned down near his home as he was getting out of his car. He had worked on a number of criminal cases, including the 2010 terrorist attack in Kizlyar that killed 10 and injured 270. Investigators believe that Amirov ordered the assassination, which was organized by Magomed Abdulgalimov, assistant city prosecutor of Kizlyar with accomplices, Deputy Mayor of Kaspiysk Yusup Dzhaparov and Kirovsky District police investigator Magomed Akhmedov. The murder was committed by Magomed Kadiyev, the Investigative Committee said earlier. |
| Posted by:ryuge |