Horrible last days for kidnap victims in Chechnya

LONDON - New Zealand-born engineer Stanley Shaw, kidnapped and executed in Chechnya with three colleagues, was the only one to escape weeks of twice-daily beatings, says a man who shared their final days.

Magomed Chaguchiev, an academic and former Chechen official, spent almost one month imprisoned with the men before his family paid a ransom and he was released. Days later he learned that the four had been beheaded.

He met the men's families this week and was also interviewed by London Metropolitan Police officers, who are still investigating the killings.

He also agreed to sign an affidavit which solicitors acting for the victims' families intend to use as part of an action against Granger Telecom, the Surrey-based company that employed three of the engineers.

Until now, there have been few details about the final days of Shaw, aged 58, who was living in Surrey; Peter Kennedy, 46, from Kent; Rudolf Petschi, 42, from Devon; and Darren Hickey, 26, from Surrey.

All four were kidnapped in Chechnya in October 1998 while working on a 190 million ($616 million) contract to install telecommunications equipment. Their severed heads were found a month later.

An inquest last year concluded that it was impossible to say exactly why the men had been killed or the circumstances in their final days.

But in his first full media interview, Chaguchiev, a Dagestani, spoke of the conditions the engineers endured as they waited to be saved or executed.

"Twice a day we would be beaten. Especially Peter, and Rudolf who could speak Russian," said Chaguchiev, who was taken hostage with his son, while searching for his other son, who had also been kidnapped.

"For a toilet there was one bucket for seven of us. There was also a bucket of water for drinking. If the kidnappers had been smoking marijuana they might give us some bread and onions.

"We were told not to share it with the British, but we did share it. For this we were beaten."

He said the engineers were beaten in front of him - with fists, boots and the butts of pistols. Shaw - the eldest - was the only one who escaped the beatings. The conditions were cramped and their cell - in the Chechen town of Urus-Martan - was overrun with mice, rats, scorpions and snakes. The men would take it in turns to scare off the vermin while the others slept, said Chaguchiev, who believes he spent a total of 28 days with the men.

"The one I spoke to most was [Petschi] the interpreter. He was talking all the time about his wife and how much in love with her he was.

"Peter said he had a 21-year-old daughter whom he was trying to buy an apartment for.

"The youngest [Hickey] was telling us about his father's pub. He said it had the best beer in London. I was invited to come and taste the beer if we ever got out.

"I have met a lot of people in my time and these people were really honourable. We were talking about meeting up and having a special dinner."

Chaguchiev also recalled the regular telephone conversations Petschi was forced to make to Granger to plead for a ransom payment.

"He said that during the conversations he was beaten with the handle of a pistol to make him ask for money. At first it was $US10 million ($21.4 million), then $US8 million and then $US6 million. The last time he spoke he seemed very sad and upset and kept silent for 1 1/2 days. He said he could not find the money to pay the ransom."

Chaguchiev said the men were also forced to watch videos of other hostages being beheaded and their remains mutilated.

"Each was separately shown this. I was told that I was next to be beheaded but my wife and friends managed to pay a ransom."

Just days after his return to Moscow he learned that the four men had been beheaded and their heads left on a roadside in the west of the country.

The families of the three Granger staff - Shaw, Petschi and Hickey - are suing the company, claiming it was negligent in the "proper care of its employees."

The families believe the men could have been saved had the company heeded the men's request about the way the ransom be handled. The family of Kennedy, who was contracted by British Telecom, are also considering legal action.

Russian checkpoints and the lack of a cellphone network since the invasion of Chechnya last October have curtailed the kidnap business, but an estimated 200 victims are still being held.

- INDEPENDENT