Pardon for Russian officer would 'spit in the soul of
Chechens'
By Andrew Osborn in Moscow
21 September 2004

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=563988

The most senior Russian army officer to have been
convicted of war crimes in Chechnya was put forward
for a presidential pardon yesterday, less than 18
months after he was found guilty of strangling an
18-year-old Chechen woman.

The suggestion, by the governor of the Ulyanovsk
region, a man who was Colonel Yuri Budanov's
commanding officer at the time, drew angry protests
from human rights groups and Moscow-friendly Chechen
politicians. Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's deputy prime
minister and a man who has been accused of torture,
kidnap and brutality, said the proposal, initiated by
a regional appeals board, was an outrage.

"The board's recommendations spit into the soul of the
Chechen people who have suffered so much," he said.
"And not only them: giving Budanov his rank and medals
back would be like spitting at everyone who fought
with honour. If it [the pardon] goes ahead we will
find a way of giving him his just desserts."

The final decision falls to President Vladimir Putin,
who is under pressure from Russian hardliners, who
appear to be in the ascendancy because of a wave of
anti-Chechen sentiment generated by the Beslan school
massacre. Russian nationalists portray Budanov as a
patriot caught up in an unpopular war, and say that he
was unfairly singled out. They give credence to his
original story, that he thought the school student was
a rebel sniper. Budanov was convicted of killing Elsa
Kungayeva in July 2003 after first being acquitted of
the crime on the ground of temporary insanity. He
admitted he had strangled her after becoming
frustrated during her interrogation and was sentenced
to 10 years in prison.

Budanov says he thought she was a rebel sniper who had
picked off several men. No evidence of any aggressive
action on her part has been produced.

The girl's family, who have since emigrated to Norway,
say that on 26 March 2000, drunken soldiers from
Budanov's 160th tank division abducted Ms Kungayeva
from their home at 1am. A forensic examination would
later show that she was raped before Budanov strangled
her. Budanov was charged with her rape, but then
another young soldier serving under him admitted the
crime; he was later pardoned in an amnesty.

Budanov's case was notable since he was the first
Russian officer to be prosecuted for a crime against a
civilian in Chechnya. The affair quickly came to be
perceived as a barometer of Moscow's willingness to
crack down on human rights abuses in Chechnya.

Russian media report that he has been put forward for
a pardon because of his good behaviour in prison; he
oversees a sports club and "has himself achieved good
results in sport". If he is released, something that
could not happen before the new year at the earliest,
a new life in Moscow already awaits him. An unnamed
Moscow bank has already offered him work as a security
guard and his wife is renovating a service flat.

The regional appeals board has recommended that his
rank be fully reinstated, he be given back his medals
and be allowed to work for the state again.

Dmitry Kozak, Mr Putin's plenipotentiary in southern
Russia and a close confidant of the President, has
hinted that the Kremlin is ready to sign off on the
pardon. The Defence Minister, Sergey Ivanov, has also
weighed in on Budanov's side, saying he sympathised
with him as a human being and that he was not a
criminal but "a victim of circumstances and our
legislative shortcomings".

Human rights groups are less forgiving. "The man is
not in the slightest deserving of a pardon," said Oleg
Orlov, head of the rights group Memorial. "He
committed a horrible crime and has shown no remorse.
He did not defend Russia's interests; in fact Budanov
caused grave damage to Russia's interests and its
prestige."

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More on Russian War Crimes in Chechnya at:
http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Park/6443/Chechnya/






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