Court rejects new hearing for ex-Russian military officer

RICHMOND, Va. – A federal appeals court has rejected a request for a new hearing for a former Russian military officer convicted of leading a 2009 Taliban attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

In April, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the convictions of Irek Hamidullin.

Hamidullin’s attorney sought a rehearing before the full court, but that request was denied Friday.

Hamidullin led the attack on behalf of the Taliban and an allied terrorist organization, the Haqqani Network.

The court found he wasn’t entitled to lawful-combatant status because the attack took place when the war in Afghanistan was no longer classified as an international armed conflict and had shifted to a conflict against unlawful Taliban insurgents.

Hamidullin’s lawyer argued that he was a soldier, not a criminal.