Karachay-Cherkessia resident sentenced to 20 years in case of preparing terrorist attack

A military court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Akhmat Dzhanibekov, finding him guilty of involvement in ISIS* and attempting to undermine the FSB department for Karachay-Cherkessia.

Akhmat Dzhanibekov was detained by security forces on October 5, 2023 in Karachay-Cherkessia. He was charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist organization, preparing a terrorist attack, illegally manufacturing and trafficking explosive devices, training in terrorist activities, and public calls for terrorism.

Dzhanibekov's case was heard by the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don. The charges of calls for terrorism relate to 2021 and 2022 - then, according to the security forces, he published three videos online justifying terror.

According to the prosecution, in 2023, Dzhanibekov entered into correspondence with a member of the international terrorist organization ISIS* and received an assignment from him to commit a terrorist attack in the Malokarachaevsky District of Karachay-Cherkessia. He also received instructions from the interlocutor on how to make homemade bombs and studied them, the court press service said in a statement.

Akhmat Dzhanibekov chose the building of the FSB department for Karachay-Cherkessia as the target of the terrorist attack. Before his arrest, he made explosives, assembled an explosive device with them and kept it at his place, according to a message on the court's official Telegram channel.

The court found Dzhanibekov guilty on all counts, sentencing him to 20 years in a strict regime penal colony with the first five years to be served in prison and a fine of 300 thousand rubles. “Kavkazsky Uzel” does not yet have any comments from the accused or his representative regarding the verdict and plans to appeal.

Akhmat Dzhanibekov is a 31-year-old native of the village of Uchkeken, according to the entry in the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring. Dzhanibekov's data was added to this list on November 1, 2023, less than a month after his arrest.

"Kavkazsky Uzel" also wrote that in the summer of 2023, a resident of Karachay-Cherkessia, Mikhail Demurchev, was sentenced to 16 years on a similar charge - according to the prosecution and the court, he was preparing a terrorist attack in Karachayevsk.

* a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court.

** the activities of the Meta company (which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) are banned in Russia.