ROSTOV-ON-DON. June 26 (Interfax) - The North Caucasus District Military Court started hearing the prosecution's and the defense's arguments at the trial of former Makhachkala Mayor Said Amirov and former Kaspiisk Deputy Mayor Yusup Dzhaparov on Thursday, an Interfax correspondent reported from the courthouse.
The prosecution started presenting its arguments first, claiming, in particular, that the defendants were charged with plotting a terrorist attack.
"Amirov employed various methods to gather political supporters around himself and struggled for power in the republic. Other political figures opposed him. In order to sow panic in the population and strengthen his position to win the office of head of Dagestan, Amirov decided to plot an act of terrorism, in the course of which an attack on a plane using MANPADS was to be prepared," the prosecutor said at the court hearing.
The target was a plane carrying Sagid Murtazaliyev, the head of the Russian Pension Fund's regional division for Dagestan and a prominent Russian wrestler. "The blame for the terrorist attack was to be put on illegal armed units acting on Dagestani territory. The terrorist attack was not committed for reasons out of Amirov's control," he said.
The court hearing was resumed on Thursday following a pause announced on June 11, after the prosecution and defense asked for some time to better prepare for presenting their arguments.
A criminal case against Amirov was opened on May 31, 2013 on suspicion of arranging the murder of Arsen Gadzhibekov, an acting chief of the Investigative Committee department for the Sovetsky district of Makhachkala, in December 2011.
Amirov was detained in Makhachkala on June 1, 2013 and transferred to Moscow soon afterwards.
It was reported in September 2013 that another criminal case on charges of preparations for a terrorist attack had been opened against Amirov.
Dzhaparov has been charged with complicity in illegal circulation of weapons committed by a group of individuals acting in collusion (Russian Criminal Code Articles 33 and 222).
The investigation believes Amirov and Dzhaparov plotted an assassination attack on Murtazaliyev by shooting down a plane carrying him with a shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missile.