The Chechen Muslim terrorist named as masterminding the Istanbul airport attack was another refugee-terrorist who had been granted “asylum” in Austria, it has emerged.

Ahmed Tschatajew was granted “asylum” in Austria in 2003 after falsely claiming that the Russian government was persecuting him. In reality, he had served as a militant in the radical Muslim militia in the Second Chechen War, and was simply fleeing Russian justice for his terrorist activities.

He was given “asylum” in Austria mainly because the European Union hates the Russian government, and routinely sides with anyone who is in opposition to Vladimir Putin.

Tschatajew has been identified as the main planner of the Istanbul airport attack by the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the US House of Representatives, Michael McCaul.

Speaking to CNN, McCaul said that Tschatajew “is probably Russia’s enemy number 1 in the North Caucasus” and is known to lead the “war department” in ISIS.

According to a report in the Russian Sputnik news, Tschatajew has been travelling the world for the past 13 years despite being wanted on terrorism charges in Russia—and has been protected from deportation several times by EU “human rights” legislation.

“Ahmed Tschatajew moved around Europe completely unhampered, despite having weapons, with the complete indulgence of the governments of a number of [European] countries,” a Russian intelligence source said.

“The [EU] states preferred to “turn a blind eye to Tschatajew’s illegal and dangerous activities just to annoy Russia,” the source.

“But the attack in Istanbul has now shown that those human rights activists who left Tschatajew at large and who fought against his repatriation to Russia, are accomplices of terrorism and are responsible for the mass death of people in Ataturk Airport,” the intelligence official said.

Tschatajew was arrested during the Second Chechen War for participation in illegal armed groups. He managed to escape from prison and left Chechnya for Austria, where he applied for asylum.

He claimed that he had been tortured by the Russians while in detention, and that as a result his right arm had to be amputated. In reality, as the Russian records show, he lost his arm in battle against Russian forces.

In 2008, Tschatajew was arrested for unlawful possession of weapons in Sweden after firearms and ammunition were discovered in his car. He spent over a year in a Swedish prison.

The same year, a Chechen court convicted Tschatajew in absentia on terrorism and “participation in armed groups” charges, and ordered his arrest.

In January 2010, Tschatajew was arrested in Ukraine, where police found explosive construction instructions on his mobile phone.

However, he was still not deported to Russia because of pressure from Amnesty International and the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that his “asylum” status in Austria protected him from deportation.

In May 2011, Tschatajew was arrested at the border of Bulgaria and Turkey, but once again his “asylum” status prevented him from being delivered to the Russian authorities.

In September 2012, he was arrested on the Georgian–Russian border, while in possession of two grenades. However, a request for his extradition to Russia was once again rejected because he was a registered “refugee.”

In December 2012, Tschatajew was spotted in Turkey, most likely on his way to Syria.

Finally, in October 2015, Tschatajew was officially placed on the United Nations watch list as a terrorist. His current location is unknown.