Turkish authorities arrest 6 people accused of killing 3 Chechen refugees

On the photo: Ruslan Papaskeri (nicknamed The Zone) who is accused by Turkish authorities of killings of Chechen refugees in Istanbul

The Turkish press reported that 6 persons had been detained in the course of a special operation in Istanbul and Adapazar. The arrested are accused of involvement in a series of killings of Chechen refugees in Istanbul.

A Turkish newspaper, Sabah, published the names of those arrested, without specifying the surnames. Among them are Uveis A., Imran A., Ali, Musa, Turko and a Georgian citizen nicknamed The Zone (aka Ruslan Papaskeri).

The newspaper also published a scanned ID of Ruslan Papaskeri.

In turn, another newspaper, StarGazete, reported that the arrested are accused by the investigation of involvement in the murder of 3 Chechen refugees in Istanbul on September 16, 2011.

It is to be recalled that at that time the Chechens Bek-Hazh Musayev, Rustam Altemirov and Zaurbek Amriyev were killed in the Zeytinburnu district of Istannbul.

Several trunks of firearms were seized during searches of the detainees.

According to Turkish press, the key figure among the arrested is Ruslan Papaskeri (The Zone). Newspapers indicate that his name was revealed by a failed assassin Bakhram Batumayev who had been arrested on charges of an assassination attempt on a former head of the Caucasian Sharia Court , Shamsuddin Batukayev in 2011.

It is to be recalled that some of these persons have already been arrested on charges of the assassination attempt on S. Batukayev. And Ruslan Papaskeri, according to the Turkish press, was even wanted. More information about that can be found at this link.

According to the news agency Cihan, a court released on Tuesday night 4 out of 6 persons detained on November 16. Among them are Uveis A., Imran A., Musa and Turko.

As for Ruslan Papaskeri and a defendant in the case named Ali, they were arrested by the court and are now in jail.

The Turkish press reports that according to the investigation which is carried out by an anti-terror department of the Istanbul Police, the arrested were involved in the murder of 3 Chechen refugees in the Zeytinburnu district, and the preparation of a new murder, which was planned by them in Turkey.

According to the newspaper StarGazete, Ruslan Papaskeri is also accused of at least one more murder in Istanbul, which had been committed earlier, but the paper didn't disclose any details.

Meanwhile, a Turkish newspaper Milliyet writes with reference to the investigation that The Zone (Ruslan Papaskeri) was a member of a group of killers, who were directly involved in the murder of 3 Chechen refugees in Istanbul's Zeytinburnu district in 2011.

The newspaper reported that The Zone had finished off the wounded Chechens by shooting in their heads.

The investigators managed to discover using a video from street surveillance cameras, and established that Ruslan Papaskeri had been wearing a wig.

According to the newspaper, MIT agents and a SWAT team of the anti-terror department of Istanbul police took part in investigation and detention of the 6 defendants in the case of a series of killings of Chechen refugees. Surveillance of suspects has been conducted for over a year.

It also reported that The Zone (Ruslan Papaskeri) is accused of murdering the representative of the Caucasus Emirate, Ali Osayev (aka Musa Atayev) in 2009 and is involved in the murder of Islam Dzhanibekov in 2008.

According to the paper, The Zone was questioned on all those murders, but he did not answer questions, and refused to cooperate with the investigation, explaining his silence by being a foreign citizen.