News

Zeynap Suyunova convicted for attempted terrorist attack on Red Square

The court has recognized evidence collected by the Central Investigative Department of the Russian Investigative Committee as sufficient to convict Zeynap Suyunova. She is found guilty of the crimes under part 2 of article 209 (banditry), part 2 of article 30, paragraph “a” of part 2 of article 205 (attempted terrorist attack), part 3 of article 222 (illegal acquisition, transfer, storage, bearing of firearms, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices committed by an organized group), and part 3 of article 223 of the Russian Criminal Code (illegal manufacture of explosive devices by an organized group).

The investigation and the court have established that from October to December 2010, in Dagestan the leader of Gubdensky gangster group Ibragimkhalil Daudov formed and took leadership of a gang in order to commit a terrorist act on 31 December 2010 on the Red Square in Moscow. According to the scenario Suyunova was to have become an actual doer of the act. On 28 December 2010, according to the plan, she arrived in Moscow and the members of the gang put her in the room 14 at the cottage 1 of the hotel OOO Sports Shooting Club of Military Hunting society – Russian sports non-governmental organization, located at Golovachov’s street in Moscow. Beforehand the gang members had brought homemade explosive devices, in manufacture of which Suyunova had taken part. On 30 and 31 December 2010, Suyunova and one more member of the gang Zavzhat Daudova were informed by text-messages about the plan of their further actions, according to which on 31 December 2010 around 8 p.m. they were to have taken a taxi to the center of Moscow and commited the acts of terrorism by blasting the explosive devices attached to their bodies. However they couldn’t manage to accomplish the crime, as on 31 December 2010, around 7:50 p.m. the explosive went off spontaneously in the hotel while it was being fastened to Daudova’s body. Daudova died on the spot and the hotel manager was injured. The cottage was destroyed. The damage equaled to 20 million rubles.

Sayunova as well failed to accomplish the act as she lost a safety catch to her explosive device at the explosion site at the hotel which made it impossible to set off the charge. In addition, having lost the cellphone and not knowing the location of the Red Square, she couldn’t contact the gang members to receive explicit instructions from Daudov. Thereat she decided to escape and took a bus to the town of Kizlyar in Dagestan. On 2 January 2010, after the police had checked her papers at the Volgograd post she was delivered to Moscow and later detained. At the request of the investigation the court decided to take her into custody.

The court has sentenced Suyunova to 10 years in a medium-security prison.