ROSTOV-ON-DON. June 6 (Interfax) - The North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don has handed down the sentence to Kabardino-Balkaria residents Viktor Mukhamedow and Shodmon Begnazarov charged with preparing for participation in a terrorist organization, Alyona Katkalo, the court's spokesperson told Interfax.
"Mukhamedov was sentenced to 11 years in a maximum-security penal colony. Begnazarov was given 12 years in a maximum-security penal colony," Katkalo said.
According to investigators, sharing radical religious beliefs, Mukhamedov and Begnazarov decided to join the Islamic State international terrorist organization (banned in Russia) in June 2017.
Wishing to earn money for a trip to Syria, they were supposed to commit an attempt on the life of a policeman using an improvised explosive device at the suggestion of an ISIL member.
It was established that they collected elements of the explosive device from the cache in August 2017, but they were detained. Drugs were also seized from them during a search.
Depending on the role of each of them, Mukhamedov and Begnazarov were found guilty of preparations for participation in a terrorist organization, illegal purchase and possession of explosive substances, preparations to manufacture an explosive device, and purchase and possession of drugs.