14:16, 9 March 2017

Prosecutor asks court to sentence Khasan Zakaev to 23 years of imprisonment

Memorial board with names of Dubrovka terror act victims. Photo: Yuri Timofeev (RFE/RL)

Today, during the debate of the parties in the case on hostage taking at the Dubrovka Theatre Centre in 2002, the public prosecutor has requested the court to sentence defendant Khasan Zakaev to 23 years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony. The public prosecutor has also requested the court to satisfy all civil claims filed by the victims.

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.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been explained by Maria Kurakina, an advocate of the victims, that in total, about 20 civil claims were filed for the amount of about 100 million roubles.

In turn, Igor Zuber, an advocate of the victims, has refused to comment to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on the term of imprisonment requested by the public prosecutor.

"In this story, the different circumstances are important for us: there are no answers to many questions. It is obvious that the circumstances of the deaths of a number of hostages will not be revealed," said Igor Zuber.

According to the advocate, the victims are not satisfied with the progress of the trial and the investigation conducted into the case.

"During the trial, no circumstances of the death of each of the hostages and no actual causes of deaths were revealed. Besides, the court and the investigators failed to identify who led the rescue operation, what kind of gas was used and who ordered to use it, and how the victims got medical assistance," noted Igor Zuber.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Author: Oleg Krasnov

Source: CK correspondent