| A Russian court today found one man guilty of terrorism while the trial of another suspect on terrorism charges began in a courtroom in the republic of Daghestan. In the southern Stavropol region, a court found Ismail Israpilov guilty of terrorism in connection with the September 2003 bombing of a Russian passenger train. The resulting explosion on a commuter train killed seven people and wounded more than 50 others, mainly students. Israpilov was sentenced to 20 years in jail. In Daghestan’s capital Makhachkala, the republican Supreme Court started hearing the case of Magomed Tagaev, accused of inciting interethnic hatred and trying to overthrow the government. Tagaev published two books in Chechnya that prosecutors say called for the violent overthrow of constitutional order in Daghestan and led to clashes between rebel forces and Russian troops there in August-September 1999, just before the second Chechen war started. |