The murder of a former Russian colonel is the latest, but perhaps not the last, act of a horrific drama that began more than a decade ago.
by Sergei Borisov13 June 2011
Yuri Budanov was shot repeatedly in the head in central Moscow on 10 June. Except in the minds of some extreme Russian nationalists and perhaps some soldiers, he is remembered as the former Russian colonel convicted of killing an 18-year-old Chechen woman in 2000. His case was convoluted, with the trial coming close to amnesty at one point before Moscow intervened and a retrial eventually ended in conviction. Even after that, as this article shows, his fate was no more straightforward than the Kremlin’s approach to Chechnya. Its twists and turns are a good illustration of changing tactics and the far-from-uniform opinion in Russia about how to approach crimes committed on both sides in that conflict. And Budanov’s case had tentacles: a few days after he was released early from prison in January 2009, Stanislav Markelov, a lawyer who had represented the family of the murdered girl, held a press conference to protest the move. He was shot and killed, along with Anastasia Baburova, a young journalist, on a street in downtown Moscow immediately afterward. In April, two neo-Nazis were convicted of those murders. Now some are wondering if Budanov’s death will spur retribution killings of people from the Caucasus or even if it was committed by Russian nationalists in order to inflame already tense ethnic relations.
This article was originally published on 27 September 2004.
ULYANOVSK, Russia | A former colonel jailed for kidnapping and murdering a Chechen girl and pardoned by a regional commission on 15 September will not, after all, be able to walk free with a presidential pardon.
This change of direction in the long and always controversial case of Yuri Budanov came after the largest street demonstrations by Chechens in years, opposition from the pro-Kremlin Chechen government, and, it seems, behind-the-scenes pressure from the Kremlin.
THE BUDANOV CASE
The Budanov case has become a touchstone issue, as Budanov is the first and almost the only Russian officer to have been punished for crimes against Chechen civilians. Human rights groups have leveled many accusations against Russian troops. Budanov’s case has also gained added prominence for its convoluted course.
After protracted court proceedings and several psychological examinations, a military court in the North Caucasus sentenced Budanov to 10 years in prison in July 2003.
Budanov strangled Elza Kungayeva in 2000 after she was seized and questioned by the unit that he commanded. Budanov admitted killing Kungayeva, who was 18, initially defending himself by saying he thought she was a rebel sniper. However, he also sought to avoid a jail term by claiming diminished responsibility. The legal and psychiatric arguments then centered on whether he had been suffering from a temporary bout of insanity when he killed Kungayeva.
The sentence was upheld in October 2003 by Russia’s military supreme court and on 30 March 2004 by the Supreme Court itself.
Doubts that Budanov would ever be jailed, nurtured partly by rulings in Budanov’s favor by the leading state psychiatric research center, were replaced, after his sentencing, by doubts that that he would serve much of his 10-year sentence. These grew after the decision to transfer him to the Dimitrovgrad prison in the Ulyanovsk region. Many believed that the governor of Ulyanovsk, Vladimir Shamanov, holder of a Hero of Russia medal for his role in the war, had his hand in this. Budanov was Shamanov’s subordinate in Chechnya, and the men are said to be friends.
For many, the principal question was not whether Shamanov would pardon Budanov, but when.
HOW BUDANOV WAS PARDONED
In May, Budanov appealed for a pardon but withdrew his plea after uncertainties about this citizenship. Two days later, the Defense Ministry confirmed that Budanov had Russian, not Ukrainian, citizenship.
A better opportunity may have been provided by the tragedy in Beslan in early September, when more than 330 people, mainly children, were killed in the bloody conclusion to the school hostage crisis. With anti-Chechen sentiment running high, some believe Shamanov thought the timing was right to fast-track Budanov’s release.
However, the main reason could be not Beslan, but the expiration of Shamanov’s term of office this December. He faces direct elections, as President Vladimir Putin’s proposed reforms about appointment of governors have not yet passed the State Duma.
Shamanov’s chances of victory are thought to be slim. This may, then, have been one of the last opportunities to help his former comrade in arms.
Shamanov immediately put his signature to the 15 September decision by the Ulyanovsk regional pardons commission to pardon Budanov. The commission also restored his Order of Courage and military rank. The commission noted that Budanov had behaved well in prison and that he had headed the prison’s sports section.
But for the pardon to be valid, it still needed Putin’s signature.
For many observers, the question then became whether Shamanov had coordinated his actions with the presidential administration.
Shamanov himself did not comment on the pardon of Budanov. The Kremlin has been also silent.
THE ANGRY RESPONSE
Shamanov’s decision put the Russian president in a difficult position. On 21 September, several thousand people, most of them students, gathered in the Chechen capital, Grozny, to protest against the pardon for Budanov.
The demonstration, one of the largest in Chechnya in recent years, also won the support of the Chechen government. The republic’s first deputy prime minister, Ramzan Kadyrov, son of the late Chechen president, said that to pardon Budanov would be to “spit on the soul of the Chechen people.”
The Chechen branch of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party condemned Budanov as a “war criminal for the citizens of the republic” and a man who had “caused irreversible harm to the authority of our armed forces.”
The protesters, who also condemned the terrorism in Beslan, equated Budanov to Shamil Basaev, the Chechen warlord who has claimed responsibility for the school siege. One of the banners reportedly read: “Budanov and Basaev – both are murderers.”
Ziad Sabsabi, the lawyer for Kungayeva’s family, said that the pardon could fuel demands “to free ahead of schedule rebels who are in Russian jails.”
An independent deputy in the Duma, Vladimir Ryzhkov, said a pardon would prompt a “flow of hundreds and thousands of Chechens into the terrorists’ camp.” It would also send “a signal to troops in the Caucasus to continue their lawless deeds,” a view echoed by Aleksandr Petrov, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Moscow office.
Liberal Russian politicians joined the chorus of condemnation. Irina Khakamada, who stood against Putin in presidential elections in March, said that if Putin pardoned Budanov “it would be one more proof that the authorities follow no law.”
Russia’s human-rights ombudsman, Vladimir Lukin, also called for Budanov to remain in prison, insisting that Russia be tough on “the murderers of innocent people and make sure there isn’t an impression that we approach these issues with double standards.”
THE KREMLIN’S CHOICE
Visa Kungayev, the father of the murdered girl, told the weekly Moskovskiye Novosti on 23 September that he is sure the Russian president would not sign Budanov’s plea. “Why? Terrorists are the same for him. And Budanov for him is a terrorist like those who captured the school in Beslan. I am simply certain of it,” Kungayev said.
But the Kremlin remained largely silent in the days after the decision, prompting some in the media to argue that a pardon was possible to please those who share the Kremlin’s opinion that to fight terrorism there is a need to toughen measures against Chechens in the wake of Beslan tragedy.
One of the few comments to emerge indicated that the Kremlin was considering a pardon, though that may have been an attempt to soothe Russian servicemen in Chechnya. Dmitri Kozak, who was recently appointed his envoy in the Southern Federal District, which includes Chechnya, and granted huge powers, told the state television channel Rossiya on 19 September that “there are possibly grounds for a pardon,” pointing out that Budanov has already been in prison for four years. In that time, many Chechen rebels had been amnestied, Kozak asserted.
But, if it was quiet in public, the Kremlin appears to have acted behind the scenes. The Russian media reported about enormous pressure exerted on the Ulyanovsk regional administration. Eventually, the regional Prosecutor’s Office in Ulyanovsk wrote to Shamanov saying that the commission had breached some procedural requirements when it considered Budanov’s plea. The commission did not take into consideration the “social danger” of Budanov’s crime, prosecutors said, and added that pardoning Budanov at the moment would be “inexpedient.”
Shamanov then called on the pardons commission to reconsider its decision. It is due to rule on 29 September.
But Budanov has effectively spared them the task and Putin the choice by withdrawing his plea. His lawyer, Pavel Astakhov, told reporters that his client had taken this step as a “consequence of the stir made recently by officials and media around the case of the former tank man.”
WHAT NOW?
Still, Budanov could in any case soon walk free. In 2005, he will have spent five years in prison, half of his 10-year sentence, at which point he can appeal to a court for early release on probation.
If the court agrees and releases him for good behavior, Budanov will not be able to return to the army as a colonel or claim back his Order of Courage.
But he could do without official help. When he submitted his plea for a pardon, Budanov said that he would be able to live in an apartment rented for him by an unnamed bank, and that he would work in the bank’s security section. His wife, Budanov said, is already working on repairs in the flat.
Kungayeva’s family could theoretically demand compensation from Budanov. However, her father told Moskovskiye Novosti “I would not take anything even if I was offered it.”
Kungayeva’s family is now in Norway, where her parents, brothers, and sisters are undergoing a psychological rehabilitation program at the invitation of the Norwegian government.
Kungayev said the family feels well in Norway but they still want to return home. “We decided: If the president does not sign the decree on the pardon, we will return to Russia.”
http://www.tol.org/client/article/22470-budanov-and-the-chechen-curse.html
