Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev

Zelimkhan Yanderbiyev or Yandarbiyev (Russian: ???????? ?????????????? ?????????) (September 12, 1952 – February 13, 2004) was an acting president of the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (1996 – 1997).

Yanderbiyev assassination

On February 13, 2004, Yanderbiyev was assassinated when a bomb ripped through his SUV in the Qatari capital, Doha. Two of his bodyguards were killed as well and his 12-year-old son was seriously injured. It was unclear who was responsible for the blast, but suspicion fell on Russia's intelligence services, who denied any involvement, and internal feuding among the Chechen rebel leadership. Maskhadov's separatist Foreign Ministry condemned the assassination as a "Russian terrorist attack", comparing it to the attack that killed Dudayev.

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February 13 - 2004 - SUV - Qatar - Doha

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The car bomb led to Qatar's first anti-terrorism law, declaring lethal "terrorist acts" punishable by death or life imprisonment. On February 19 the Qatari authorities arrested three Russians in the Russian embassy villa for the murders. One was released due to his diplomatic status and the remaining two, Anatoly Yablochkov (???????? ????????) and Vasili Bogacheov (??????? ???????), were charged. According to Moscow, they were secret intelligence agents sent to the Russian Embassy in Doha to collect information about global terrorism.

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The trial proceedings were closed to the public after the defendants claimed that one of the prosecution witnesses, the Qatari Colonel Dawi or Dawdi, had tortured them in the first days after their arrest, when they had been held incommunicado. The two Russians alleged that they had suffered beatings, sleep deprivation and attacks by guard dogs. The defendants showed the presiding judge, Ibrahim al-Nisf, dog bites on their bodies and the defense asked that their clients be examined and evaluated by a Western doctor. This request was denied by the judge on the grounds that since the dog bites were clearly visible, no medical examination was needed. Russia used these torture allegations and the fact that the two officers were arrested within an extraterritorial compound belonging to the Embassy (i.e. effectively on Russian soil) to demand the immediate release of her citizens. On June 30, 2004 both Russians were sentenced to life imprisonment; passing the sentence, the judge stated that they had acted on orders from the Russian leadership. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3852697.stm

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Sleep deprivation - June 30 - 2004

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The verdict caused severe tensions between Qatar and Russia, and on December 23, 2004, Qatar agreed to extradite the prisoners to Russia, where they would serve out their life sentence. The agents received a hero's welcome on returning to Moscow in January 2005 but disappeared from public view shortly afterwards. The Russian prison authorities admitted in February 2005 that they were not in a jail, but said that a sentence handed down in Qatar was irrelevant in Russia. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4275147.stm

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