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| - Two Russian citizens went on trial for attempted murder in Sweden on Monday, accused of attacking a blogger from Chechnya critical of the Russian region's strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The attack on Tumso Abdurakhmanov took place in the Swedish city of Gavle in February, when the accused -- a 30-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman -- entered the blogger's apartment. Prosecutors say the man struck Abdurakhmanov in the head with a hammer while he was sleeping. In documents submitted to the court, prosecutors claimed the woman, who has been charged with being an accessory, aided the attempted murder by establishing a relationship with Abdurakhmanov over several months, taking pictures of his apartment and then letting the man into the apartment. The two accused admit to many of the facts but deny that they intended to kill Abdurakhmanov. After the attack, Abdurakhmanov posted a video showing the assailant, whom he had apparently overpowered, covered in blood. He also brandished the hammer that he said the assailant used to attack him. Abdurakhmanov's lawyer told Swedish news agency TT that his client thought "there was no doubt that the act was ordered by the Russian regime ruling Chechnya." A former Chechen separatist turned ardent Kremlin loyalist, Kadyrov, 44, is one of Russia's most powerful men. Critics accuse him of creating a fiefdom built on widespread rights abuses and amassing vast personal wealth. Calling himself President Vladimir Putin's loyal "foot soldier", Kadyrov has branded members of the Russian opposition "jackals" and "enemies of the people". Abdurakhmanov has lived in exile since 2015 after receiving what he describes as threats to his life from Chechnya. According to Swedish media, Abdurakhmanov has been living in hiding in Sweden since 2019, after being denied asylum in Poland. His YouTube video blog critical of Kadyrov has some 300,000 subscribers. jll/po/dl
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