JEDDAH, 3 September — Saudi Arabia said yesterday that the two Chechen men who hijacked a Russian airliner to Madinah earlier this year will be tried in the Kingdom according to Shariah law.
“The two will get a fair hearing in accordance with Shariah law, which is applied by the Kingdom’s Islamic courts,” Interior Minister Prince Naif said. He added that the case has now been transferred to the Shariah court.
The two hijackers — Leriskhan Arsaiev and Denis Magomerzaiev — commandeered a Russian TU-156 plane while it was on a flight from Istanbul to Moscow and forced it to land in Madinah. They were demanding an end to the Russian offensive in Chechnya.
A Russian hostess and a Turkish passenger died when Saudi special forces stormed the plane on March 16, a day after the plane landed, to end the hijack drama and release the passengers. The third hijacker, Soupian Arsayev, was also killed during the operation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged Saudi authorities to hand over the two surviving hijackers despite the absence of an extradition treaty between Moscow and Riyadh.
Prince Naif justified Riyadh’s refusal to extradite the pair, saying The Hague and Montreal Conventions give countries to which planes are commandeered the right to try hijackers.
“Article Seven of The Hague and Montreal Agreements stipulate the right of the country to which any plane may be hijacked to try the hijackers on its territories,” he told the Saudi Press Agency.
“The culprits will have the full chance to defend themselves. The court will give the final word,” Prince Naif said, adding that the government will uphold any judicial decision.
The passengers on board the Vnoukovo Airlines plane were rescued by Saudi commandos in a lightning operation.
“The operation started at 12 noon and ended within three minutes at 12.03 p.m.,” Col. Ali ibn Dakheel Al-Raheli, commander of the special forces, told reporters after the operation.
He said the commandos had been trained on Saudia planes.
After reaching Madinah, the Saudi commandos observed the Russian hijackedplane using advanced surveillance equipment. They also got more information about the plane from the passengers released by the hijackers.
Col. Raheli said his officers fired at a hijacker when they found him stabbing a stewardess. He said there was no casualties among the commandos.
The Russian government later thanked the Saudi government for its successful handling of the hijacking and Russian Ambassador to the Kingdom, Andre Beklanov, handed a letter of appreciation to Prince Naif.
