Punishment may be mitigated to militants hiding from justice - Yevkurov
MAGAS. Sept 13 (Interfax-AVN) - Head of the Russian internal Republic of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov has asked Ingush natives, who are wanted for terrorism-related crimes, to return to their homeland and take advantage of the procedure of mitigating punishment.
"The residence outside Russia is not a guarantor of your security and for you to go unpunished. Those who are staying in Europe or somewhere else abroad will be extradited sooner or later. We know of the recent incident involving Aslan Yandiyev's extradition from Slovakia after ten years of search for him. We learnt yesterday that the Ukrainian General Prosecutor's Office has extradited Timur Tumgoyev. It is unnecessary to hide!" Yevkurov wrote on his Instagram page.
Former militants and their relatives can address the republic's adaptation committee, he said.
Tumgoyev and Yandiyev did not take advantage of this opportunity, but the others should not commit such errors, the Ingush leader said.
"The adaptation is impossible without a frank confession and repentance. Our committee is thoroughly looking into each case and exploring the questions and opportunities to provide aid to persons. At our meetings we are discussing the fates of people, who joined the path of realizing their error and want to mend their ways. This does not rule out a punishment, but ensures that it will be mitigated," Yevkurov said.
The republic's adaptation committee, which has been set up in Ingushetia in 2011, has recently considered rarer cases of former militants in light of the stabilized situation. People, who want to end not only their terrorist and extremist activity, but any criminal one, are addressing there more and more frequently.
However, some militants are still leaving Russia to flee justice, the republic's head said.