A 27-year-old national of Tajikistan has been detained in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan Republic, on suspicion of being involved in terrorism.
Citing an investigator with the Federal Security Service (FSB)’s Directorate for Tatarstan, Realnoye Vremya (Real Time), an online newspaper, says criminal proceedings against Shamsiddin Burhonzoda were instituted on November 21 and he was taken into custody the next day.
During interrogation, already in the rank of the accused, Burhonzoda reportedly pleaded guilty. He said that he has been in Russia since 2020.
Burhonzoda had no registration and official job, illegally working at the Privoz Fermer (Farmer Supply) food market in Kazan, according to Realnoye Vremya.
According to the FSB, Burhonzoda, holding radical views, has decided to join the ranks of international terrorists and for this, he made contacts with members of the ISIS terror group during the period from May 1 to September 1 this year.
In the course of electronic correspondence in Odnoklassniki social network service, Burhonzoda expressed wish to go to Syrian of Idlib, controlled by the banned organization, to participate in illegal activities.
“However, the intent was not carried through. On September 1, Shamsiddin Burhonzoda was detained by police for violation of the migration legislation and placed in the Center for Temporary Detention of Foreign Citizens,” the FSB representative was cited as saying.
Realnoye Vremya notes that Burhonzoda was in the Center until November 22, and it was during this period that the security forces suspected that the perpetrator was involved in the crime.
The investigator on November 21 asked to send the person involved into custody until January 21, 2023, noting that preparation for participation in the activities of a terrorist organization is a particularly serious crime and Article 30 (1) of Russia’s Penal Code stipulates that such a crime is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
