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| Chechen gets two years for fighting with the 'Free Syrian Army' |
| 2014-11-12 |
| A court in Grozny sentenced a local man to two years' imprisonment in a penal colony for fighting in Syria. Said Mazhaev went to Syria in November 2013. He returned home to Chechnya on January 14, when he was taken into custody. The indictment says that Mazhaev fought for the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which is highly unlikely to have been the case. The FSA is a loosely defined term for locally based Syrian armed opposition groups, not a foreign fighter faction. That the term "Free Syrian Army" was used is thought to be a political move on behalf of the Chechen Republic, which - like Moscow - considers all of the armed Syrian opposition including the relatively moderate, Western-backed Free Syrian Army to be illegal terrorist organizations. It is much more likely that Mazhaev fell in with other Chechens in Syria. In November 2013, when he traveled there, that would almost certainly have meant Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar, at the time led by Umar Shishani. Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar is linked to the Caucasus Emirate, which calls for the violent overthrow of the Chechen leadership. Chechen leadership would not likely want to publicize young Chechens who go to Syria to fight in a group that has any connection with the Caucasus Emirate. Had Mazhaev been with Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar from November 2013 until January 2014, there would have been good reason for him to have become disillusioned with jihad, because that is the time when Umar Shishani moved with a group of his men to join Islamic State, a decision that caused a bitter split among North Caucasian militants in Syria. |
| Posted by:ryuge |