09 March 2017, 22:48
Prosecutor's Office link assault of "Nord-Ost" with death of hostages
On March 9, the Moscow District Military Court held a session on the case of Khasan Zakaev, accused of helping to commit a terror act at the Dubrovka Theatrical Centre in 2002.
On October 23, 2002, during the musical "Nord-Ost", staged at the Dubrovka Theatre Centre, militants took 916 people as hostages. Three days later, during a special operation to free the hostages, 130 people died, and over 700 others were injured.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in December 2014 the criminal investigation into the terror act committed during a performance of the musical "Nord-Ost" was resumed after detention of a native of Chechnya Khasan Zakaev, accused of helping the capturers of the theatre centre. Khasan Zakaev is accused of helping the capturers of the Dubrovka Theatrical Centre in 2002. On November 22, 2016, victims' advocate Karinna Moskalenko announced her intention to file lawsuits against Zakaev.
During today's session, the prosecutor spoke out his demand concerning the punishment; and none of his statements escaped the attention of victims’ representatives. In particular, the prosecutor stated that "should there be no special operation, there would have not been any casualties through carelessness."
The audience became noisy – people whispered, drawing attention to the fact that the representative of official Russian authorities for the first time admitted the presence of "victims through carelessness during the special operation in Dubrovka."
"For the first time, Russia recognizes the presence of victims through carelessness during the special operation; this is a real breakthrough in the case on the terror act," the lawyer Maria Kurakina has commented on the prosecutor’s statement in a conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Author: Oleg Krasnov Source: CK correspondent
