News

Volgograd Region citizen inducing his stepson to take part in terrorist activities stood trial

The Volgograd Regional Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has completed the investigation into a 50-year-old citizen of Oktyabrsky District. He is accused of committing an offense under Part 1 of Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code of Russia (persuading a person to participate in an organization defined as a terrorist one under the legislation of the Russian Federation).

According to the investigation, the convict is a follower of radical Islam. Having got married to a local citizen in 2010, he had made his wife adopt his religion and started to insist on the 7-year-old son of the woman to become a Muslim. Their relatives, including the biological father of the boy, had expressed their disagreement and taken the boy to live with them when they had found out that the stepfather had been making the child carry out religious rituals according to radical Islam. Four years after, the minor returned to the family and fell under the influence of the accused again. The man showed the boy video clips encouraging committing violent actions on behalf of the banned terrorist organization Islamic State and urged him that as soon as he turned 15 he would have to go to the Syrian Arab Republic to join the terrorist operatives. A year after, on June 17, 2016, it became known that the boy gave in to the criminal convictions. On that day, he wrote a message to his relative to share his intent to take part in military combat against the Syrian State Armed Forces. Soon operative officers of the Volgograd Regional Directorate of the Federal Security Service of Russia also became informed about the boy’s plans. Due to the measures taken, the illegal activities of the convict have been impeded by his isolation from the child.

The investigation gathered enough evidence; therefore, the criminal case with the approved indictment was sent to the court to be tried on the merits.