Chechnya Massacre Accused On The Run

Taken from The Sydney Morning Herald, April 20, 2007

MOSCOW: Three members of the Russian special forces who were being prosecuted for massacring a group of Chechen civilians have gone on the run. The three men in the highly publicised case had been granted bail despite protests by the victims' families.

Eduard Ulman, Alexander Kalagansky and Vladimir Voyevodin had previously admitted shooting six Chechens, including a pregnant woman, on a mountain road in southern Chechnya in January 2002.

However, they claimed they were innocent because they were following orders. Their escape is an embarrassment to the Kremlin, which has struggled to persuade its critics that it is serious about holding war criminals to account after more than 10 years of conflict in Chechnya.

A warrant was issued for the men's arrest after they failed to appear for two hearings. Last week, prosecutors demanded the soldiers receive prison terms of between 18 and 23 years.

Murat Musaev, a lawyer for the victims' families, said the court had repeatedly refused requests to detain the defendants during their prosecution. "We were afraid this would happen," Mr Musaev said. "It was clear they would be found guilty."

The soldiers are alleged to have mistakenly opened fire on a minibus carrying civilians, killing one and wounding two. The court heard that after bandaging the wounded, Captain Ulman's superiors instructed him to kill the five survivors, apparently in an effort to cover up the initial blunder.