Feature Stories
Russia’s chief hitman or chief philanthropist?
Mention Aslan ‘Jacko’ Gagiyev’s name and accounts of the South Ossetian gang leader will vary wildly — a murderer, philanthropist, principled brigand, or secret services assassin. And despite the trail of bodies he left in his wake, some, including Gagiyev himself, insist his crimes were all for the greater good. The man in the ‘aquarium’ — a small cage surrounded by bulletproof glass in which the defendant stands — smiles and jokes. Between court sessions, he talks to those present in the roo
