An attacker shot dead a judge from the Supreme Court of Russia’s Dagestan region on Tuesday, the country’s Investigative Committee said.
An unidentified attacker shot the Dagestan Supreme Court judge, Magomed Magomedov, “at least five times,” the agency, which investigates serious crimes, said in a statement on its Web site.
“The judge died from his wounds,” it added.
Investigators “are prioritizing the theory that the motive was the judge’s professional activities,” the statement said, adding that the attack was committed in the regional capital of Makhachkala.
Magomedov is listed on the court’s Web site as one of nine judges in the presidium of Dagestan’s Supreme Court. He had recently tried cases involving armed insurgents, Russian news agencies reported.
Last month, he found three insurgents guilty of taking part in an armed group that blew up a food store, wounding one person. Magomedov sentenced them to eight, nine and 10 years in prison, the Interfax news agency reported.
Investigators have opened a criminal probe, terming the murder an assassination of a justice official — an offense that carries a maximum punishment of life in jail.
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