Russia's Constitutional Court has upheld a ban on handing over the bodies of terrorists to their relatives for burial. It also rejects that relatives have the right to know where the remains have been buried.
The decision of the court is final and cannot be appealed. The legislation is intended to prevent the tombs of terrorists from acquiring martyr status. The case came about after the relatives of two men killed in security operations in Nalchik in 2005 filed an appeal to have their bodies returned. The relatives say the ban violates their right to bury their dead according to religious traditions.