A Moscow military court has handed down a 7-year sentence to a Moscow businessman on charges of sponsoring Islamic State (IS), a terrorist group banned in Russia.
As many as 3,400 Russian citizens have traveled to the Middle East to fight for ISIS and related groups, analysts have reported. Last week, an elderly man was arrested in the Caucasus republic of Dagestan on charges of abetting terrorism after he traveled to Syria to rescue his adult son from the ranks of the IS terrorist group.
Shamil Nurmagomedov, a commercial director at a suburban Moscow construction firm, was found guilty of "abetting terrorist activity" by the Moscow District Military Court and sentenced to 7 years in a labor colony, the state-run TASS news agency reported Tuesday.
Investigators obtained evidence from telephone intercepts, bank account information and witness testimony that said the suspect bought tickets and transferred 200,000 rubles ($3,512) to members of armed groups.
Nurmagomedov had reportedly sent the money in an attempt to rescue his brother, who traveled to Syria in 2013 and is now hiding in Ukraine over fears of persecution in Russia, TASS reported.
His attorney called for his acquittal, saying that while his client admitted to sending money to his brother, he denied it was related to terrorism.
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