Deportation of potential witness in Todashev case postponed

18:06 04/07/2013

MOSCOW, July 4 (RAPSI) - The departure date of a young woman described as a potential witness in the shooting death of Ibragim Todashev has been extended by 30 days, The Boston Globe reported Thursday.

19-year-old Tatiana Gruzdeva, who was described in the report as Todashev's former roommate in Orlando, had initially been ordered to leave the US by July 1 after having been arrested for overstaying her visa. A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] officer then granted a 30-day extension, the Globe reported, citing an ICE source.

Todashev was shot and killed during an FBI interview at his Orlando home on May 22 in connection with his alleged ties with Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

The FBI Boston Division acknowledged the death the same day, releasing a statement explaining that during the course of an interview connected with the pending Boston Marathon bombing investigation, the interviewee had initiated a violent confrontation, adding that: "During the confrontation, the individual was killed and the agent sustained non-life threatening injuries."

A week later on May 29, a more substantive follow-up statement issued by the FBI's National Press Office identified Todashev by name and outlined an action plan for its pending review of the incident: "The FBI is conducting a review of the May 22, 2013 shooting of Ibragim Todashev, 27, which occurred at Todashev's residence... The FBI's shooting incident review team interviews witnesses and gathers information regarding the shooting incident for presentation to a Shooting Incident Review Group (SIRG), which consists of members from the FBI and the Department of Justice. The SIRG examines all of the information and determines the reasonableness of the application of deadly force in accordance with the Department of Justice's deadly force policy and the law."

The Florida division of Islamic advocacy group the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) then filed a complaint with the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) calling for an "independent, thorough and transparent investigation... into the FBI's shooting of Ibrahim Todashev after several hours of interrogation at his home."

During an interview with RIA Novosti last week, Todashev's father said he would sue the US authorities over what he describes as the "extrajudicial execution" of his son. Speaking with RIA Novosti in Grozny, Abdulbaki Todasahev said, "FBI agents came to my son's house and executed him, without filing any charges, with no lawyer, with no eyewitnesses. All I want is to obtain truth, justice and a punishment for those responsible, and so I intend to file a lawsuit against the authorities of that country [the US] to establish a truthful picture of what really happened."