| Hostages' testimony was read at the verdict in the Beslan terrorist attack case Yesterday, the Supreme Court of North Ossetia continued to announce the verdict in the case of Nurpashi Kulaev, a militant who participated in the seizure of a school in Beslan on September 1, 2004. He faces life imprisonment. Yesterday it turned out that the judge himself, Tamerlan Aguzarov, is terminally ill - he has blood cancer. Despite doctors' orders and poor health, he reads the verdict while standing.
Yesterday, before the start of the trial, women who lost their children during the tragedy in Beslan again passionately discussed the verdict against Kulaev. Zarema Dzutseva, who lost her 12-year-old granddaughter Alena during the terrorist attack, shouted: “He needs to be executed right in the city square. I want to see him die." Another victim, Indira, whose daughter died during the terrorist attack, said: “And I want him to suffer for many years in solitary confinement, sentenced to life.” “It’s not him, but we who are in prison for life. We will have to bear a heavy cross for the rest of our lives,” Fatima answered her.
At 10.00, Judge Tamerlan Aguzarov continued reading the verdict he had begun the day before. “Having fully studied all 105 volumes of the criminal case, the court came to the conclusion that it does not trust the testimony given by Kulaev,” he began. Namely, the court does not trust the militant’s testimony that he did not have a weapon in his hands during the seizure of the school and that he did not kill anyone or hit anyone with the butt of a machine gun. The court found that Kulaev had a Kalashnikov assault rifle, four horns with cartridges, an unloader and a mask. What the accused said at the trial was regarded by the court as “an attempt to evade responsibility.” Then Judge Aguzarov began to analyze the testimony of the victims. He started with the victim Zaira Berdikova, who told the court that during the seizure of the school, Kulaev constantly bullied her minor son and did not allow her to drink. “When I tore a piece of my T-shirt from my shirt, gave it to the child and told him to go to the tap and wet a rag, Kulaev pushed the child and hit him twice with the butt of his machine gun. This was the most ferocious bandit of all who were in the school. Even the militant who sat in the corner and read the Koran seemed more harmless, despite the machine gun,” the judge read out her testimony.
Victim Kazika Dzarasov said that on September 1, 2004, when bandits seized the school, people were driven into the gym and ordered to sit on the floor on their knees. When the small child began to cry, hostage Betrozov began to calm him down. He told the baby that everything was fine, soon everyone would go home, and there was no need to be afraid. Then the bandits grabbed Betrozov, “forced him to his knees and shot him in front of his children, wife and other hostages.”
The judge paid special attention to the testimony of former hostage Larisa Mamitova. “People in masks appeared as if out of nowhere. They were armed with machine guns, grenades, pistols and shouted: “Allahu Akbar! This is a seizure!”... They took away our cell phones, photo and video cameras, and bags. One man broke free, started running, and was shot. This was the first victim. Then we realized that this was not a prank, not a planned training exercise for police officers, or even a demonstration performance for students. It was truly a grab. The militants brought two backpacks with explosive devices into the gym. Four of them were installed on the wall bars, two on basketball circles, the rest were placed on the walls, and the wires were run under each hostage. The terrorists then forced the men to break desks and board up windows on all floors of the school. About two hours later we heard shots, and only eight of the fifteen men returned to the hall; the rest, as we were later told, were shot,” the judge read. The first day the hostages sat on their knees; standing was forbidden, for which they were threatened with execution. There was nothing to breathe. Two small children constantly cried, were capricious, asked to clear the hall and let all the hostages go home. They could not calm down, and the militants killed them. The next day, the Colonel (terrorist Ruslan Khuchbarov, killed during the assault) called Mamitova, wrote a mobile phone number on a piece of paper and ordered the woman to pass it to the operational headquarters, and also tell the whole situation inside the hall. The commander of the militant group warned that if an assault begins or the police try to sneak inside the school unnoticed, then for every wounded militant he will shoot 20 children, and for every killed one he will take the lives of 50 children. Khuchbarov made a demand that he “wants to see Dzasokhov, Aushev, Roshal and Zyazikov at the school,” and reported the number of hostages - about 1,300 people. Then Ruslan Aushev arrived and took several women with infants out of the school. “When Doctor Leonid Roshal reported on TV that children could live for ten days without water and food, Khuchbarov turned off the TV and shouted that since his demands were not being met, he would not hand over a single hostage. Everyone will die here,” recalled Larisa Mamitova.
In total, testimonies from 60 victims were read out yesterday, and then the judge announced a break until the next morning.
When everyone left the hall, Rita Sidanova, a representative of the “Mothers of Beslan” committee, marveled at the judge’s courage: “He relived those terrible days with us. He cried with us. It’s still hard for him to read the verdict. In addition, the judge himself is seriously ill. He has leukemia. Yesterday he felt bad, he sat down on a chair and could not get up. I had to call a doctor. Let’s hope that Tamerlan Aguzarov will feel better and he will be able to continue reading the verdict.” Ekaterina KARACHEVA, Vladikavkaz |
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