In light of the slaying of lawyer Stanislav Markelov, we are digging into the archives of older news reports to inform our readers of the story of former colonel Yury Budanov, whose release on parole Markelov spent his final days fighting.  It is important to understand how the trial and imprisonment of Budanov became a rallying point for ultra-nationalists in support of the campaign in Chechnya.

“Rape and Murder Trial Puts Russia in Dock over Chechnya,” by Andrew Jack, Financial Times, (June 22, 2002, pp. 16)

In most countries, a soldier accused of raping and murdering an 18-year old girl would be heavily stigmatised. In Russia, where nearly three years of fighting has poisoned relations with its breakaway republic of Chechnya, Colonel Yuri Budanov has become a strange kind of hero.