Sources close to Waynakh Online have reported that all four Chechen asylum seekers who were recently detained have been released as of Tuesday evening.

According to the information, a few days ago Turkish border police arrested a Georgian citizen named Ruslan Babasgiri (aka Zona Babasgiri), born 1973 in Tbilisi, as he was crossing into Turkey from Syria. During the interrogation, it was determined that Babasgiri provided the gun for the alleged assassination attempt against the former head of the Shari’a Courts in the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in October 2011. During the interrogation, he gave police the names of Chechen asylum seekers as a provocation. Following this, on November 16 Turkish police arrested those Chechen asylum seekers and brought them in for questioning.

On Tuesday, November 20, four Chechen asylum seekers testified in front of the specially authorized Turkish Republic Prosecutor, Adem Ozcan. The prosecutor also asked them for information about the assassination of three Chechen asylum seekers in Istanbul in September 2011. They were asked whether they had ever seen or known of the people in photos and video records that were provided. After the interrogation, the prosecutor decided to release them.

On the other hand, “Ruslan Babasgiri” and another man called “Ali Y” were sent to court with a demand that they remain in custody. The prosecutor has accused the two men with murder and possessing an unlicensed gun.

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