On March 11, Grigory Kryuchkovsky, 48, and Lema Bakayev,...

On March 11, Grigory Kryuchkovsky, 48, and Lema Bakayev, 43, found guilty of murder were executed by firing squad in Russia's breakaway region of Chechnya. The execution was broadcast on local television. The sentence was decreed by Muslim Chechnya's Supreme Shari'a Court. It is the first reported execution for a year and a half. In September 1997, Chechnya triggered a storm of criticism in Russia and abroad when it carried out 2 public executions of 4 people convicted of murder. Moscow condemned those executions as a "medieval orgy." Chechnya, which now regards itself as an independent state and won de-facto independence from Moscow following a 21-month war of independence which ended in 1996, has introduced traditional Islamic Shari'a law and does not recognize Russian federal law, and says the death penalty is a vital part of efforts to combat a crime wave sweeping the region.