DUBAI // The family of the murdered Chechen warlord Sulim Yamadayev will not seek blood money or take any legal action against the two men convicted of involvement in the assassination, a court was told yesterday.
MH, 37, an Iranian groomsman for the Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov, and MJ, 32, a Tajik national, were sentenced to life in prison in April for aiding and abetting the murder and possessing the gold-plated 9mm Stechkin APS pistol believed to be the murder weapon.
On appeal, the public prosecution asked the court to implement Al Qasas, the capital retributive punishment under UAE law. Al Qasas, however, also gives the victim's family the right to pardon the perpetrators and reduce the sentence imposed by the court.
Lawyers for the convicted men presented a declaration to Dubai Court of Appeals yesterday, signed by the Yamadayev family executor, the dead man's brother Isa Yamadayev.
The declaration said the family relinquished their right to retributive punishment in any criminal or civil claim related to the case, and are not pursuing any financial compensation or blood money from anyone involved, including suspects still sought by Interpol.
The document will be translated from Russian to Arabic and added to the case file in court at the next hearing on December 8.
Sulim Yamadayev was a former Chechen rebel commander who changed sides with his four brothers in 1999 and joined pro-Moscow militias. Two of his brothers were murdered in 2003 and 2008, and Sulim was shot dead in the basement car park of his home at Jumeirah Beach Residence on March 28 last year.
Dubai police have accused Adam Delimkhanov, a prominent Russian MP and cousin of President Kadyrov, of ordering the killing. Interpol has issued arrest warrants for seven Russians, including Delimkhanov.
