The Vienna Criminal Court (Landesgericht für Strafsachen) in Austria hosted the final hearing on the murder of Chechen refugee, Umar Israilov. It is expected that the verdict will be announced on June 1.

According to reports, on May 30, the last witness, who is another man, was questioned about the Chechen Cultural Association, which was established by the defendant, Otto Kaltenbrunner (Ramzan Edilov).

The defense lawyer, Rudolf Mayer insisted on the interrogation of Ramzan Kadyrov. However, Judge Friedrich Forsthuber rejected the request due to the impracticability. “The Moscow Prosecutor General’s Office did not respond to our letter addressed to the hearing of Kadyrov. Since the submission of the papers, four months have already passed and it shows that there is no way to anticipate that the request for assistance will be done in the foreseeable future. It is likely that Moscow will not answer,” noted Forsthuber.

It is highly possible that the defendants, Turpal Ali Yesherkayev, Suleiman Dadayev and Otto Kaltenbrunner, who are viewed as the operation’s mastermind, will be sentenced to 20 years or life imprisonment.

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