GEORGIA: Georgian appeals court opens second hearing into man convicted of smuggling uranium

The Appeals Court in Tbilisi opened a second hearing on Friday (February 23) into the case of a Russian citizen convicted of attempting to sell bomb-grade uranium to undercover Georgian secret agents he thought were Islamic militants. Georgian authorities said last month the country's special services had foiled an attempt by Oleg Khintsagov, to sell the bomb-grade uranium for 1 million US dollars. Khintsagov, a resident of Russia's North Ossetia region, was arrested on February 1, 2006 and a closed court convicted him to 8 1/2 years in prison. But on Friday, Khintsagovthe's lawyer, Avtandil Zardiashvili said the Appeals Court should find him innocent. "I will ask the (Appeal) court to cancel the decision made by the (regional) Kazbeki court on September 1, 2006, and I will try to acquit Oleg (Vladimirovich) Khintsagov as innocent," he said. It was alleged Khintsagov transported the uranium, which was enriched to 90 percent, in plastic bags in his pockets, and that he refused to cooperate with the investigation. The uranium's provenance was unclear. The safety of Russia's vast stocks of nuclear weapons from smugglers has concerned world leaders since the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union. Russia says its nuclear facilities are well guarded. There have been 16 previous confirmed instances of stolen or missing HEU or plutonium recovered by authorities since 1993, according to a database of the U.N. nuclear watchdog. Georgian officials sent samples of the uranium to the United States and Russia for examination. The U.S. Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI) and Russian officials confirmed the uranium was weapons-grade but said they could not identify its origin. In sufficient amounts, uranium-235, which has a half-life of more than 700 million years, can be used to make a nuclear bomb.

ITN Source | February 26, 2007

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