Grozny, 3 September 1997 (RFE/RL) - Chechnya today staged a public execution, putting to death by firing squad a young man and his wife found guilty of murder.
The two had been tried by an Islamic Court. Hundreds of people gathered in the centre of the Chechen capital Grozny to watch. The couple were stood against a wall and shot at close range by masked executioners.
Interfax said the man's second wife had also been sentenced to death but was spared because medical tests showed she was pregnant. Chechnya's President Aslan Maskhadov has ordered public executions in the hope of combatting the present crime wave. New executions are expected to follow.
The two had been tried by an Islamic Court. Hundreds of people gathered in the centre of the Chechen capital Grozny to watch. The couple were stood against a wall and shot at close range by masked executioners.
Interfax said the man's second wife had also been sentenced to death but was spared because medical tests showed she was pregnant. Chechnya's President Aslan Maskhadov has ordered public executions in the hope of combatting the present crime wave. New executions are expected to follow.