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Story of Marek Dudaev – How 13-year-old Boy Turned into a Monster

January 13, 2010

Mari Otarashvili

“Field commander of South Ossetia,” “King of Commanders”, “Wolf” – He is called these romantic names in South Ossetia; he is a famous criminal Marek Dudaev. According to his passport, Marek has Georgian name – Nodari; it means once, before the conflict in South Ossetia, the Dudaevs were well integrated with Georgian people.

Nodar (Marek) Dudaev serves his term in Georgian prison now. On the other hand, his life is full of tragic histories. At the age of 13 he witnessed murder of his father, raping of his sister and burning of his mother. These crimes have not been investigated yet; however, we can say that it is part of Georgian-Ossetian ethnic conflict. Their family was attacked by Georgians and the crime was committed on ethnic ground. Georgian conflict scientists agree that this tragedy turned Dudaev into a criminal. Part of experts thinks that release of famous criminal is not advantageous for Kokoity’s marionette government. Despite that, during every negotiation, separatist government of Tskhinvali still requests Georgian side to give the prisoner to them. Sometimes, Kokoity’s authority calls Dudaev “political prisoner” or “military hostage.”

Chairperson of the Confederation of Caucasian Nations Zaal Kasrelishvili stated that Marek Dudaev is not Ossetian. He is ethnic Chechen. His ancestors left North Caucasus long before and settled in Vladikavkaz and Tskhinvali.

On November 25, 2005 Supreme Court of Georgia sentenced Marek Dudaev, resident of the village of Artsevi in Tskhinvali district, to 23-year-old imprisonment for murder, extortion and armed robbery. His attorney Natia Siradze assessed the trial as a performance. She said investigators and witnesses at the trial were appointed by the police.

On November 26, 2005 Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia announced that brother of Marek Dudaev – Erik Dudaev, who is a high ranking official of the de-facto ministry of defense of South Ossetia, is also a famous criminal; he kidnaps people, extorts money and is a robber.

Separatist government of South Ossetia requests release of Marek Dudaev for any rate since his imprisonment; though in vain. Apparently, Dudaev is very precious prisoner for Georgian law enforcement bodies because during the war in 2008 they did not exchange him even into Georgian military hostages taken by Ossetian side.

One more interesting fact: On July 8, 2005 Georgian residents of conflict zone of South Ossetia held protest rally. They blocked Tskhinvali-Vladikavkaz motorway and requested the separatist government to release their neighbors from imprisonment. Despite the effort of commander of the so-called peacekeeping forces of Russia, General Marat Kulakhmetov, the demonstrators were not going to calm down. Tskhinvali immediately requested release of Marek Dudaev in exchange of Georgian hostages. MIA stated they could not exchange hostages into Dudaev.

It was reported in 2007 that Georgian side was going to exchange Marek Dudaev into brothers Khachapuridzes. However, former de-facto minister of internal affairs of South Ossetia Mikheil Mindzaev said that the exchange did not happen.

Journalistic investigation of Vakho Komakhidze, shown on TV-Company “202”, reinforced the doubts of the Ossetian side about Marek Dudaev. Official data and accusations of Georgian side became suspicious. Furthermore, set of accusations accumulated against Georgian law enforcement system instead convicted Marek Dudaev.

It was long ago but Georgian conflict scientists have not changed their opinions about Marek Dudaev. They claim Georgian side has contributed into creating a criminal from Nodar Dudaev from Artsevi village.

Zaal Kasrelishvili, chairperson of the Confederation of Caucasian Nations: “Georgian people killed father of Marek Dudaev, raped his sister and burnt his mother in front of him. Just imagine Dudaev was only 13-years-old at the time. In fact, this person, who is serving his term in Georgian prison, was turned into a criminal. After similar tragedy he hated both Ossetian and Georgian people. A boy, grown up in the mountain according to mountain laws, cannot be compared with a boy grown up in Tbilisi. If we judge this situation in this way, Dudaev is a criminal for ever; however, when a boy from mountain witnesses similar tragedy, he cannot help becoming a dangerous criminal.”

Mamuka Areshidze, expert in Caucasian issues: “Marek Dudaev was a little boy – 13 years old – when tragedy happened in his life. As a result he became a criminal. Maybe before that he was a hooligan but not ruthless criminal. As far as I know, Marek Dudaev has done many brave deeds; he was “Arsena” (Georgian outlaw who fought against the rich and assisted the poor) while he has killed an old man for ordinary revenge.”

According to Zaal Kasrelishvli, that time situation and ongoing events supported Marek Dudaev to become a criminal. Russian Special Forces have seriously contributed in it as well. 

“When this boy became a criminal, it was terrible time (1990s). People spared each other. Both Georgian and Ossetian sides, as well as Russian Special Forces have contributed into turning Dudaev into a criminal. Russian Special Forces did their best to breed hostility between Georgian and Ossetian peoples,” said Kasrelishvili.

The expert underscores that despite the tragedy, Marek Dudaev was not a criminal on ethnic ground. He did not differ Georgian, Ossetian and Russian peoples from each other.

Zaal Kasrelishvili: “When this boy became a criminal, he did not spare Ossetians and Georgians; Let us recall story of Abkhaz criminal – Butba. This person had similar background – he was very little boy when next-door neighbors killed his parents. Then he took up the gun. At the age of 20 he already was a famous warrior. Later he was aggressive towards peaceful people. As a result, he tortured both Abkhaz and Georgian peoples. Finally, both sides exploded him together. I think Marek Dudaev was enemy of injustice and not Georgian people; injustice does not have ethnicity and face. If he had tortured only Georgian people, I would have different opinion; but I know how residents of Vladikavkaz think about Dudaev.

“They call him “wolf”. I want to underline that Marek Dudaev is not an “Ossetian Boevik”, that means, his criminal activities are not ethnically grounded, though Georgian people were guilty in his first tragedy. Dudaev is a serious criminal who does not care who his victim is – Georgian, Ossetian or Chechen.”

Mamuka Areshidze states the same: “Ossetian side requests his release because his relatives, friends and close people demand it from de-facto government of South Ossetia. De-facto governmental officials will not be very happy if he is released. Even Eduard Kokoity is afraid of him.”

According to the chairperson of the Confederation of Caucasian Nations, Ossetian side requests release of Marek Dudaev because he is very famous and respected person in South Ossetia; he can influence ongoing processes there. Thus, they need Marek Dudaev. Besides that, his relatives, friends and close people are concerned about his imprisonment and demand his release.

Thus, Marek Dudaev is a contradictory person; he is much-respected man but people are afraid of him and dislike him. Everybody knows that he is a cruel criminal. Assessing this person, nobody can avoid the tragedy of the Dudaevs family. This story leads us to the roots of ethnic conflict.

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