ROSTOV-ON-DON, June 26 (RAPSI) – The prosecutor on Thursday demanded 13 years in prison and 2 years of restriction of freedom after release for former Makhachkala Mayor Said Amirov who faces accusations of planning an attempted assassination of his political opponent, RIA Novosti reported from the North-Caucasian District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don.
The prosecutor also asked the court to sentence Amirov’s nephew Yusup Dzhaparov to 11 years in prison and 1.6 years of restriction of freedom after release.
On October 28, Amirov was charged with terrorism and illegal arms trafficking. Investigators found that the defendants planned to fire at a plane carrying Amirov's political opponent Sagid Murtazaliyev by a man-portable air defense system.
Amirov and Dzhaparov have pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against them.
Earlier, Amirov was also charged with the 2011 murder of investigator Arsen Gadzhibekov in the Dagestani city of Kaspiysk. On June 1, 2013, he was arrested and transported to Moscow, where he was taken into custody. Amirov has denounced the case as politically motivated.
Gadzhibekov was fatally shot near his home as he was getting out of his car. He had worked on a number of criminal cases, including the 2010 terror attack in Kizlyar that killed 10 and injured 270.
The investigators believe that Amirov ordered the assassination, which was organized by Magomed Abdulgalimov, assistant city prosecutor of Kizlyar with accomplices, Deputy Mayor of Kaspiysk Yusup Dzhaparov and Kirovsky District police investigator Magomed Akhmedov. The murder was committed by Magomed Kadiyev, the Investigative Committee claimed earlier.
A long-term member of the ruling United Russia party, Amirov has served as mayor of Makhachkala since 1998.