PYATIGORSK. Nov 25 (Interfax-AVN) - Chechen rebel Sayed- Magomed Chupalayev has been sentenced to 16 years in a maximum- security prison. Federal judge Yuri Makarov read out the sentence in Pyatigorsk on Monday.
Chupalayev was found guilty under three articles of the Russian Criminal Code, namely the creation of an armed unit, illegal arms shipments, and participation in an armed revolt. The North Caucasian Department of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office carried out the investigation.
Earlier, Public Prosecutor Igor Antonov had demanded 17 years in prison for the accused.
Chupalayev was detained in a refugee camp in Sleptsovskaya, Ingushetia, on March 27, 2002. Investigators said he had taken an active part in the first Chechen campaign and the establishment of the so-called "National Guard" battalion of Dzhokhar Dudayev and infantry divisions for mountainous operations. He also coordinated the actions of armed units of the Confederation of Peoples of the Caucasus in Abkhazia in 1992.