Achemez Gochiyaev

Achemez Gochiyayev (born in 1970, in the town of Karachaevsk) is a Russian citizen who has been accused of organizing Russian apartment bombings, a series of terrorist acts in 1999 that killed nearly 300 people and led the country into the Second Chechen War. The five bombings took place during two weeks between September 4 and September 16 1999 in Moscow, and south towns of Buynaksk and Volgodonsk. Gochiyaev was accused of being a mastermind behind all these bombings, however he was not convicted and remains a fugitive.

Biography

Gochyiaev is not a Chechen, but an ethnic Karachai born in the city of Karachaevsk at North Caucasus. After finishing high school, he served in Russian Strategic Rocker Forces. He run a small food-distribution company since 1997 in Moscow and got married in 1996.

Alleged involvement in bombings

Gochyayev rented premises on four locations in Moscow where bombs were found. When two first bombs run off claiming more than 200 lives, he called to police to warn about two remaining bombs (at Borisovskie Prudy and Kapotnya). The remaining bombs were found on the addresses he indicated and deactivated, which helped to save hundreds of lives.

According to his own version, Gochiyaev was framed by his old acquaintance, an FSB officer Ramazan Dyshekov who asked him to rent basements "as storage facilities" on four locations where bombs have been later found. When two first bombs run off, Gochiyaev realized that he was framed and called to police to warn about the bombing. That helped prevent further explosions.

The person who actually rented the premises has been identified as FSB officer Vladimir Romanovich according to investigator Mikhail Trepashkin based on witness testimonies. Trepashkin was unable to present his evidence to the court, since he was arrested for "disclosing state secrets" by the FSB and convicted by a military closed court to four years. Romanovich was subsequently killed in a hit and run accident in Cyprus. Gochiyev escaped to Georgia and later probably to Turkey, according to news reports.

The owner of a Guryanov St. basement warehouse in Moscow, Mark Blumenfeld, said the composite sketch of the man who rented his basement was later replaced with a different sketch. Mr. Blumenfeld pointed out that the inquest pressured him at Lefortovo to testify against Gochiyaev, the man identified by the latter sketch.