Ruslan Odizhev

Infobox WoT detainees
subject_name = Ruslan Anatolyevich Odizhev


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date_of_birth = Birth date and age|1973|12|05
place_of_birth = Prokhladny, Russia
date_of_arrest =
place_of_arrest=
arresting_authority=
date_of_release =
place_of_release=
date_of_death = Death date and age|2007|06|27|1973|12|05
place_of_death = Nalchik, Russia
citizenship = Russia
detained_at = Guantanamo
id_number = 211
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alias =
charge = No charge, held in extrajudicial detention
penalty =
status = repatriated, charged with new crimes, in Russia, killed by the police while "resisting arrest".
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Ruslan Anatolyevich Odizhev ( _ru. Руслан Анатольевич Одижев; born December 5, 1973 in Prokhladny, Kabardino-Balkar Republic of southern Russia, as Ruslan Anatolyevich Seleznyov ( _ru. Селезнёв), died June 27, 2007 in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkar Republic) was a citizen of Russia who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internee Security Number was 211 and he was listed as "Ruslan Anatolivich Odijev, born at Prolandnom, Russia". [http://www.dod.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf list of prisoners (.pdf)] , "US Department of Defense", May 15, 2006]

Life

When he was six, Ruslan's parents divorced and he went to live with his mother in the neighbouring town of Nalchik. At school, he was very interested in religion and Islamic history. At the age of 18, he joined the then recently opened Islamic Institute. Afraid they would not accept him with the Russian name Seleznyov he dropped it for the more Islamic name Odizhev. He studied there one year before joining the Confederation of Caucasus Peoples' Kabardin Battalion who fought in the Abkhaz rebellion against Georgia in 1992. When the barge that his platoon was on, sank, he had to stay in ice-cold water for hours and damaged his lungs.cite web|url=http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:vqxVEPgG-kMJ:english.mn.ru/english/printver.php%3F2003-20-1+%22taliban+no+pasaran%22&hl=nl&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=be|title=Taliban No Pasaran
author=Dmitry Balburov|accessdate=2008-05-01 [http://www.centrasia.ru/newsA.php?st=1054159620 Russian original] ] . One year later, he returned to the Islamic Institute, but soon left it to study at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He came back in 1994.

From 1999, Ruslan Odizhev was targeted by the FSB who suspected him of participation in terrorist activities, particularly the Russian apartment bombings. In May 2000, he was taken away from home by masked men to be interrogated, and according to claims by him and his mother, tortured by the FSB in Pyatigorsk. He was released ten days later. The FSB denied all involvement.

Ruslan left Nalchik, telling his mother that he was going to Pakistan to complete his religious studies. He was however taken as a prisoner of war by American forces, and sent to Guantanamo prison.

On February 27, 2004, Ruslan, together with six other persons of Russian nationality (including Rasul Kudayev, who also lived in Nalchik) was extradited to Russia. All seven ex-prisoners were sent to the White Swan isolation camp at Pyatigorsk on charges of illegally crossing Russian borders and being a mercenary. In June 2004, it was decided that the charges could not be proven and all seven accused were freed.

Back in Nalchik, according to Russian Omon, Ruslan soon became re-acquainted with Anzor Astemirov, an Islamic cleric who claimed being connected to Shamil Basayev and a friend of Ruslan from 2000.

On June 14, 2006, Odizhev was included among a list of those who had taken part in the 2005 Nalchik raid, published on the internet by the MVD of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic. According to the police, Ruslan Odizhev had headed the group of fighters who attacked OMON headquarters.cite web|url=http://www.guvdnn.ru/rozysk/3/index.htm|title=List of official suspects on the run after the events of 13 October, 2005|accessdate=2008-04-14 [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guvdnn.ru%2Frozysk%2F3%2Findex.htm&date=2008-07-26 mirror] ]

On June 27, 2006, Ruslan Odizhev was killed in the centre of Nalchik, in an apartment block on Schokenzukov Prospekt, facing the local (official) mosque, while resisting arrest, together with Anzor Tengizov. Police authorities reiterated that charges against Odizhev included involvement in the 1999 bombings.cite web
url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/27/europe/27russ.php
title=Former Guantánamo detainee is killed in shoot-out in Russia
author=J. Chivers
publisher=International Herald Tribune
date=2007-06-27
accessdate=2008-04-15 [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iht.com%2Farticles%2F2007%2F06%2F27%2Feurope%2F27russ.php&date=2008-07-26 mirror] ] Geydar Dzhemal', of the Islamic Committee of Russia, claimed that Odizhev's guilt had not been established and that he could have been captured alive.cite web
url=http://southru.info/2007/06/28/v_nalchike_v_khode_specoperacii_ubit_byvshijj_uznik_guantanamo_ruslan_odizhev.html
title=Ex-prisoner of Guantanamo Ruslan Odizhev is killed during a special police action in Nalchik
accessdate=2008-04-14 [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fsouthru.info%2F2007%2F06%2F28%2Fv_nalchike_v_khode_specoperacii_ubit_byvshijj_uznik_guantanamo_ruslan_odizhev.html&date=2008-07-26 mirror] ] .

Defense Intelligence Agency claims he "returned to terrorism"

The Defense Intelligence Agency asserted Ruslan Odizhev had "returned to terrorism".cite news
url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/d20080613Returntothefightfactsheet.pdf
title=Fact Sheet: Former GTMO Detainee Terrorism Trends
publisher=Defense Intelligence Agency
author=
date=2008-06-13
accessdate=2008-07-26
quote= [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.defenselink.mil%2Fnews%2Fd20080613Returntothefightfactsheet.pdf&date=2008-07-26 mirror] ] The DIA reported:quotation|Ruslan Anatolivich Odishev, transferred to Russia in March2004, was killed in a June 2007 gun battle with Russia’s Federal Security Service. Russian authorities stated that Odijev had taken part in several terrorist acts including an October 2005 attack in the Caucasus region that killed and injured several police officers. Odijev was found with pistols, a grenade, and homemade explosive devices on his body.

References

ource

* [http://kavkaz-uzel.ru/persontext/person/id/1190409.html Biography of Ruslan Odizhev]