The trial of the accused killers of Chechen asylum seeker Umar Israilov continued on January 24 and 25.

On January 24th, during the morning session, the Vienna Criminal Court (Landesgericht für Strafsachen) has listened Umar Israilov’s supervisor on asylum process and some police officers.

The police officers described the details of Kaltenbrunner (Ramzan Edilov)’s arrest.

Two investigators from the State Department for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter terrorism (LVT) confirmed that the brother in law of Umar Israilov’s widow Malika Israilova (Sagieva), who testified recently in the trial, was their informant.

Umar Israilov’s asylum supervisor said that in July 2008, Umar told him that he was followed by some Chechens who were sent by Kadyrov. On December 22, 2008, Umar explained he felt watched by some people. Thus, his supervisor wrote an e-mail to LVT and explained that since the previous week, Umar Israilov observed that every night, different Chechen people observed and spied on him. However, LVT replied that they did not see any criminal relevance, but if something changed, they could contact with them via their emergency numbers.

In the afternoon session, a nearly 150 minute length video was presented in court. Dozens of witnesses appeared in the video and they described the incident. These statements were translated to the three perpetrators of the murder so they could express themselves, if they wished.

According to the eyewitness testimonies, it is clear that on January 13, 2009, Umar Israilov was followed by two other men other than these three perpetrators. Even, one of these witnesses confirmed that one could be Lecha Bogatirov, who managed return to Chechnya and recently claimed that he was injured during a clash.

On January 25th, the board of the Criminal Court, public attorneys, jurors and three perpetrators went to the crime scene on Leopoldauer Street in Vienna. The crime scene was under heavy police security.

On the other hand, the international organization Human Rights Watch’s Berlin branch member, Wenzel Michalski has called Austria to put pressure on Russia in relation to the Israilov case. Also, he said that even Germany must be in co-operation with Austria.

*Text was written by Waynakh Online and edited by Michael Capobianco