JEDDAH, 1 August — Two Chechens, who hijacked a Russian plane to Madinah last year, have been sentenced to five and six years in jail by a Shariah court, according to Russian consul general here.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic daily, a sister publication of Arab News, Anwar Bek Fadlanov said the hijackers, Leriskhan Arsaiev and Deni Magomerzaiev, were arrested after Saudi special forces stormed the hijacked plane in March last year.
The consul general did not specify which man received which sentence in last week’s hearing in Madinah. However, he pointed out that one of them is 16 years old and the other 18. He said the verdict was in line with international rules.
The two men are now serving their jail sentences in Madinah and Fadlanov said: “There is no complaint about the conditions in their prison cells.”
Saudi Arabia has ignored a Russian request to extradite the two men because the two countries have not signed an extradition treaty. A Russian hostess and a Turkish passenger died when Saudi special forces stormed the plane on March 15, a day after three hijackers commandeered the aircraft with 162 passengers on a flight from Istanbul to Moscow, and forced it to land in Madinah.
The third hijacker, Soupian Arsaiev, was also killed during the operation to free the passengers aboard the Vnoukovo Airlines plane. Arsaiev, 42, was buried in Madinah.
The hijackers were demanding an end to the Russian offensive in Chechnya.
The Russian consul praised the way Saudi authorities handled the hijacking from the moment the plane landed in Madinah. The authorities released the passengers, gave them accommodation and repaired the plane, he said.
Saudi Arabia had announced earlier that the two Chechen men would be tried in the Kingdom according to Shariah law.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had urged Saudi authorities to hand over the two surviving hijackers despite the absence of an extradition treaty between the two countries.
Interior Minister 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.
