In Russia, a citizen of Tajikistan has been sentenced to 12 years in prison

A military court in Moscow sentenced a citizen of Tajikistan to 12 years in prison for preparing a terrorist attack at the Federal Security Service building in Moscow.

According to Russian media, Tajik citizen Mehrob Khaitov and six others are suspected of being members of ISIS and preparing a terrorist attack at the FSB building on Lubyanka.

The case of 23-year-old Khaitov, one of the group accused of attempting a terrorist attack, was considered in a special procedure due to his admission of guilt.

The court, taking into account the fact that the defendant fully admitted his guilt and entered into a pre-trial cooperation agreement with the investigation, reviewed the materials of his case in a special manner and sentenced him to 12 years in prison, of which 3 years are to be served in prison and 9 years in a high-security colony.

The court also fined Mehrob Khaitov 500,000 rubles. The defense of the convicted has appealed the sentence only regarding the fine.

On October 25, the military court in Moscow began hearing the criminal case against six individuals – one native of Dagestan and five natives of Tajikistan – on suspicion of being members of ISIS. The ages of the defendants range from 19 to 25 years. The defendants face penalties of up to life imprisonment.

According to the investigation, “from March to April 2022, the militants created a terrorist community under the patronage of several groups associated with the banned organization ISIS in Russia. The defendants also swore oaths to each other, and their main demand, which they planned to present after the detonation of the explosive device by a suicide bomber in the building on Lubyanka, was the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syrian territory.”

According to the investigation, Khaitov was supposed to open fire with weapons at passersby and nearby administrative buildings as part of the plan.

The defendants themselves are unavailable for comments. The defense insists that the criminal case against their clients is politically motivated, and that the crimes were allegedly provoked by Russian security service agents. Meanwhile, according to media reports, at the preliminary investigation stage, five of the defendants fully or partially admitted their guilt, while one defendant does not admit guilt.