Series of terrorist incidents in 1994, in Baku
The
1994 Baku Metro bombings
was a series of
terrorist incidents
in
Baku
,
Azerbaijan
. The first attack was perpetrated at the "20 January"
metro station
, while the second one took place between the "28 May" and "Ganjlik" stations. As a result of the first attack, 14 people were killed and 49 wounded. The second attack resulted in 13 people killed and 42 injured.
Eleven indirect perpetrators of the first attack were charged: two have been sentenced to
life imprisonment
and nine others to 15 years. The lone perpetrator of the second attack was also sentenced to life imprisonment.
The bombings
[
edit
]
The first attack, a
suicide bombing
, occurred on 19 March at the "20 January" metro station at 13:00
local time
. The
time bomb
planted under a seat in the head
railroad car
detonated when it stopped at the station,
[2]
[3]
killing the immediate perpetrator Oktay Gurbanov.
[4]
The lead railroad car was destroyed and the station's roof partially collapsed.
[3]
Among the victims was Azeri jazzman
Rafig Babayev
, whose workplace was near the station.
[5]
The work of Baku Metro was temporarily suspended afterwards.
[3]
The second attack was perpetrated on 3 July. The bomb (a remote controlled gelatine explosive, according to Azeri intelligence authorities) detonated at 8:30
a.m.
local time when the train, having departed from the "28 May" station, was 500 m away from the "Ganjlik"
railway platform
.
[6]
The majority of persons injured in that attack has been promptly released after medical assistance.
Investigation
[
edit
]
Following the attacks, President
Heydar Aliyev
signed a decree on formation of the State Investigation Commission.
[3]
During the investigation, Armenian intelligence officers, accused of involvement in the series of metro bombings in Baku as well as on Azerbaijani trains operating both in Azerbaijan and Russia, were taken into custody in
Moscow
.
[7]
The Russian citizens Kamo Fyodorovich Saakov, an
ethnic Armenian
, his wife Irina Alexandrovna Saakova and Anatoly Anatolyevich Ilchuk were arrested in July 1994, charged with preparations of the attacks.
[8]
In August of the same year Saakov was sentenced to
life imprisonment
and Ilchuk to 15-year imprisonment for preparation of diversion, contraband and illegal custody of weaponry.
[8]
The investigation ended in early October 1995.
On 29 November 1997, the Russian law enforcement bodies
extradited
to Azerbaijan the 30-year-old Lezghin Azer Aslanov, who was charged with planting a bomb in the second attack. According to Azerbaijani
Prosecutor General
's Office, Aslanov was taken prisoner by Armenian military in January 1994 while serving in the Azerbaijani army and was commissioned by the Armenian
security service to plant the bomb in Baku.
[9]
According to the former senior investigator and counterintelligence officer of the
Ministry of Security of Azerbaijan
, Lieutenant Colonel Ramin Nagiyev (
Azerbaijani
:
Ramin Na?ıyev
) (
Russian
:
Рамин Нагиев
), who had served in the
Ryazan
military prosecutor's office during the
Soviet Union
and who investigated high-profile crimes in Azerbaijan including the 1994 Baku bombings and sent 180 terrorism cases to court by 1999, the 1994 Baku Metro bombings, the
1999 Ryazan apartment bombings
, the
1999 Moscow bombings
, and other terrorist actions were very similar and allegedly these events received support from the
FSK
and later the
FSB
. The Russian citizen of ethnic Azerbaijani origin, Nariman Ramazanov (
Russian
:
Нариман Рамазанов
), who was believed to be the mastermind of the bombing, was detained by Azerbaijani security services in June 1996, but was released back to Russia during a prisoner exchange shortly afterwards upon orders from the highest levels of the government of Azerbaijan. Nagiyev believed that high ranking Azerbaijani officials, such as
Heydar Aliyev
or
Ilham Aliyev
, had been compromised by the
Kremlin
.
[10]
[11]
[12]
[a]
Both
Alexander Litvinenko
and
Yuri Felshtinsky
supported Nagiyev's allegations, too, and detailed their allegations in the book
Blowing Up Russia
which was
banned in Russia
.
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Acts of terrorism in Metro in other countries"
.
Pravda
. Archived from
the original
on 2010-08-14
. Retrieved
2010-03-29
.
- ^
"12 Killed in Explosion In a Baku Rail Station"
.
The New York Times
. 1994-03-20
. Retrieved
2010-04-01
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Теракт в бакинском метро
[Terror act in Baku subway].
Kommersant
(in Russian). 22 March 1994
. Retrieved
2010-03-29
.
- ^
"16 лет назад в этот день в Бакинском метро произошел теракт"
[16 years ago terror act took place on this day] (in Russian). First News.
Archived
from the original on 22 March 2010
. Retrieved
2010-03-29
.
- ^
"Rafig Babayev-70"
. Jazz Dunyası. Archived from
the original
on 2011-07-06
. Retrieved
2010-03-29
.
- ^
Теракт в бакинском метро
[Terror act in Baku subway].
Kommersant
(in Russian). 5 July 1994
. Retrieved
2010-03-29
.
- ^
Patterns of Global Terrorism
, United States of America: United States Department of State, 1995, p. 5,
ISBN
0-7881-2609-1
, retrieved
5 April
2010
- ^
a
b
"Political Arrests and Trials in Azerbaijan"
. Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan. Archived from
the original
on 2011-07-16
. Retrieved
2010-03-29
.
- ^
"Azerbaijani Terrorism Suspect Extradited to Baku"
. RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 1, No. 170, Part I. Archived from
the original
on 2000-06-01
. Retrieved
2010-03-29
.
- ^
a
b
ЮРЬЕВ, Андрей (YUREV, Andrey) (9 December 2002).
"ВСЁ СМЕШАЛОСЬ В ХОЗЯЙСТВЕ БЕРЕЗОВСКОГО..."
[EVERYTHING IS MIXED IN THE ECONOMY OF BEREZOVSKY...].
utro.ru
(in Russian). Archived from
the original
on 19 February 2005
. Retrieved
10 February
2022
.
{{
cite news
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
Alternate archive
- ^
a
b
Хинштейн, Александр (Khinshtein, Alexander) (4 December 2002).
"
"КРОТ" ПОД "БАОБАБОМ"
"
[“MOLE” UNDER “BAOBAB”].
Moskovskij Komsomolets
(in Russian). Archived from
the original
on 22 December 2002
. Retrieved
10 February
2022
.
{{
cite news
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
Alternate archive
- ^
a
b
Гаджиев, Мовсун (Hadjiyev, Movsun) (2 July 2013).
"
"Полковник, вы не понимаете. Это решение президента"
"
[“Colonel, you don't understand. This is the president's decision."].
Echo of Moscow
(in Russian)
. Retrieved
10 February
2022
.
{{
cite news
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)