Russian colonel sentenced in Chechen murder

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia - A Russian colonel was convicted Friday of kidnapping and murdering an 18-year-old Chechen woman and sentenced to 10 years in a maximum-security prison.

Col. Yuri Budanov, the first Russian officer to be prosecuted for a crime against a civilian in Chechnya, admitted strangling Elza Kungayeva, saying he did it in a fit of rage during an interrogation.

In December, a court ruled that Budanov was temporarily insane at the time and was not criminally responsible. However, the Supreme Court overturned that decision and ordered a new trial.

Budanov's trial has been widely watched throughout Russia for a signal into how the military will handle reports of abuses in Chechnya, which have undermined the Kremlin's efforts to build trust in the war-ravaged republic.

The military court in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don ruled Friday that Budanov was sane at the time of the 2000 killing. It sentenced him to prison and stripped him of his military rank and Order of Courage.

Judge Vladimir Bukreyev said he based his decision on a new psychiatric report that concluded Budanov was sane at the time of the attack but was in a "highly agitated state."

The judge also rejected defense claims that Budanov believed Kungayeva was a sniper. Kungayeva's family has said she was dragged from her home in a Chechen village, raped and murdered during a drunken rampage by soldiers.

Both sides said they would appeal the sentence. Budanov's lawyer said it was too harsh for an act the colonel claimed was committed during a fit of rage. The young woman's family said a murder conviction warrants stiffer punishment.

"In a country where a street hooligan sometimes can get five years for his actions, a murderer gets away with 10," said Abdulla Khamzayev, representing the family of Kungayeva.

"Ten years for a human life," said Tatyana Kasatkina of the human rights group Memorial. "It is better than nothing. But for a majority of residents of Chechnya it once again demonstrated that the price of a life of a Chechen is much cheaper than the price of a life of a Russian citizen outside Chechnya."

Budanov often erupted into outbursts during the trial and was escorted out of the courtroom. He also stuffed cotton balls in his ears during proceedings.

- Information from the Los Angeles Times used in this report.

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