A former deputy prime minister of Chechnya, the Russian MP Adam Delimkhanov, provided the "golden gun" used to assassinate the Chechen warlord Sulim Yamadayev in Dubai and said he "must die," a court heard today. The testimony of a police officer directly implicating Mr Delimkhanov in the killing was the first time the politician had been linked in open court to the alleged plot to eliminate Mr Yamadayev.
Officer Mohammed al Mutawa'a told the court that Mr Delimkhanov, a close ally of the Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov, had provided the gun allegedly used to kill Mr Yamadayev in the basement car park of his apartment at Jumeirah Beach Residences. Mr al Mutawa'a said Mr Kadyrov's horse groomer, MH, currently on trial for aiding and abetting the premeditated murder, had heard Mr Delimkhanov speak ill of Yamadayev, saying: "He must die." According to Officer al Mutawa'a, MH, 37, from Iran, had given him a detailed confession during interrogation and claimed that he received the murder weapon from Mr Delimkhanov about three months before the murder on March 28 last year. A delegation of Chechen officials had apparently been visiting Dubai in early January.
"MH said that he received a bag from Adam just before the Chechen president's delegation left the country heading back," Mr al Mutawa'a told the court. "He said that he found a golden gun inside the bag after he grew curious to its contents." Mr al Mutawa'a told the court that MH claimed Mr Delimkhanov had contacted him three months after handing over the bag and asked him to text him Yamadayev's JBR address. He said that MH said that Mr Delimkhanov later told him to take some people to stake out Yamadayev's home. The trial was adjourned until February 25. The defendants were remanded in custody and refused bail.
amustafa@thenational.ae