Yuri Budanov

In December of 2002, a Russian court tried Russian Colonel Yuri Budanov on war crimes charges. He was accused of kidnapping, raping (an unsubstantiated allegation later withdrawn by the prosecution) and murdering Elza Kungayeva, an 18-year-old Chechen woman whom Budanov claims was an accomplice of Chechen rebels who were responsible for killing several of the men under his command. In a controversial decision, he was initially found not guilty by reason of insanity on December 31, 2002 and committed to a psychiatric hospital for further evaluation and treatment. Later this decision was overturned. He was serving a ten year sentence in Ulyanovsk Oblast until President Putin pardoned him.