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"The International Herald Tribune"
December, 25th 2008
More than 1,000 people have gathered in the Chechen capital of Grozny to protest a court's decision to grant parole to a Russian colonel convicted of murder.
Protesters on a central Grozny square on Thursday carried posters reading "A murderer should sit in prison" and "Murderers deserve life sentences."
A court in Dimitrovgrad ruled earlier this week that Col. Yuri Budanov be released 8 1/2 years into his 10-year sentence. Budanov was arrested in early 2000 and convicted in 2003 of murdering an 18-year-old Chechen woman, Heda Kungayeva. He admitted strangling her, but said he did it in a fit of rage while interrogating her believing her to be a rebel sniper.
Budanov's case has been closely watched as a test of authorities' determination to deal with abuses in Chechnya.
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