What happened
On March 28, 2009, Sulim Yamadayev was shot in the car park beneath the Dubai apartment complex where he was living. Contemporary UAE reporting described the weapon as a gold-plated Stechkin pistol. Yamadayev had been a prominent Chechen military figure and a rival of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
The killing immediately became an international investigation because the suspected operational team was believed to include people who had already left the UAE. Dubai Police later said it believed the assassination had been organized beyond the two men who were eventually brought to trial.
The prosecution in Dubai
Dubai prosecutors charged Tajik businessman Makhsood Jan Asmatov and Iranian national Mehdi Taqi Dahuria with aiding and abetting the premeditated murder and with offences connected to the weapon. In April 2010, the Dubai Court of First Instance convicted both men and imposed life sentences.
The defence denied that the men had participated in the assassination. Their convictions nevertheless survived the appeal on guilt. In December 2010, the Court of Appeal reduced the punishment from life imprisonment to three years after Yamadayev's family submitted a pardon waiving its private right to retributive punishment.
What remained unresolved
Dubai Police publicly named Russian State Duma member Adam Delimkhanov as a suspected organizer of the killing. Delimkhanov denied involvement. Other suspected members of the operational group were also outside the UAE and were not tried in the Dubai proceeding that convicted Asmatov and Dahuria.
Because two accomplices were convicted while the alleged shooter and alleged organizers were not fully adjudicated in the UAE, Crime by Region classifies the file as Partially Adjudicated rather than fully solved.
Timeline
March 28, 2009: Yamadayev is shot and killed in the car park of his Jumeirah Beach Residence building.
April 2009: Dubai Police arrest two men who are later prosecuted for aiding the assassination.
April 12, 2010: Dubai Criminal Court convicts Asmatov and Dahuria and sentences them to life imprisonment.
December 22, 2010: Dubai Court of Appeal keeps the convictions but reduces the sentences to three years after a family pardon.
2011: The two convicted men are released after serving the reduced terms and are subject to deportation.
Current status
The murder itself is established and two accomplices were convicted in Dubai. The wider chain of criminal responsibility was never fully resolved through UAE criminal judgments. Allegations against people who were not tried remain allegations, not findings of guilt.