WHAT SENATOR TORSHIN IS SILENT AND SPEAKING ABOUT

PAIN POINT

In June of this year, members of the federal parliamentary commission voted by seventeen votes to two in favor of the final version of the report on the investigation into the circumstances of the Beslan terrorist attack. But this week, the head of the commission, A.P. Torshin...

In June of this year, members of the federal parliamentary commission voted by seventeen votes to two in favor of the final version of the report on the investigation into the circumstances of the Beslan terrorist attack. But this week, the head of the commission, A.P. Torshin was forced to announce the continuation of the work of the ill-fated commission, which issued an incredible number of promises to society - and not a single clear answer to the main questions.

Senator Torshin was extremely annoyed, explaining the reasons that prompted the commission to change its mind and take up work again, in which the majority of Russian citizens no longer believe (the results of polls by the Levada Center voiced on Ekho Moskvy showed that the trust rating of the parliamentary commission fell from 60 moreover, 56% of respondents are categorically sure that the task of the commission is to hide answers to questions that are inconvenient for the authorities from the public).

Senator Torshin is clearly unhappy that he was forced to continue the painful investigation. And yet, the names of the culprits were voiced: Novaya Gazeta, the Internet resource PravdaBeslana.Ru, and a member of the same commission, State Duma deputy Yury Petrovich Savelyev, who published an alternative report on Beslan in the above-mentioned media.

It is flattering to realize the effectiveness of their work, since such small forces managed to achieve not only discontent, but also specific responses from the authorities (primarily, of course, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, which requested Savelyev's report for careful study).

However, there are fears that all official actions will now be aimed at refuting Savelyev's report or searching for compromising evidence on Savelyev himself, if the report fails to be refuted.

It makes no sense to hope for another examination of the "mathematical modeling" of the circumstances of the first explosions, in which the same senator Torshin believes so much. At the same time, he hardly has any idea what it is - "mathematical modeling", but he no longer doubts that this examination will refute Savelyev's arguments about the first explosions in the gym, which are the result of aimed shots from flamethrowers. (Note that Yuri Savelyev himself is a major specialist in the field of mathematical modeling and applied these techniques in his research as well.)

Someone should explain to Senator Torshin that the desire to refute Savelyev at all costs is a great stupidity. It is foolish to argue with physics, mathematics, logic, facts. It is unacceptable to say that “in the way the events in Beslan developed, a significant part of the blame lies with the republican authorities and the residents of Beslan,” and immediately ask: “Is Patrushev responsible for this? Or Nurgaliev? President of Russian Federation?"*.

The problem is that Senator Torshin, as well as the other 16 members of the federal commission**, and 50 investigators from the Prosecutor General’s Office, and hundreds of Russian journalists cannot even admit the thought that the blame certainly lies with all the high-ranking officials mentioned by Torshin. And the task of the commission, as well as the investigation, is to determine the degree of this guilt, guided by law and conscience.

The situation is not hopeless. Those who want to know the truth about the Beslan tragedy are provided with information opportunities for this - Novaya Gazeta and the PravdaBeslana.Ru Internet resource have published all the officially existing points of view on the circumstances of the terrorist attack and the reasons for the death of most of the hostages. Every citizen - from the private to the president - has the opportunity to draw conclusions from the Beslan tragedy on their own.

• See Torshin's interview, Moskovsky Komsomolets, 09/15/2006.

** 17 people voted for the official and final version of the report of the federal parliamentary commission, published on the Novaya and PravdaBeslana.Ru websites: A.P. Torshin, A.I. Aleksandrov, A.G. Baskaev, A.G. Bilalov, L.I. Bindar, O.G. Borzova, V.K. Gusev, V.V. Dyatlenko, R.G. Iskuzhin, Yu.Ya. Kovalev, V.F. Kulakov, O.A. Malyshkin, V.V. Margelov, A.L. Moskalets, O.E. Panteleev, V.A. Popov, V.I. Fedorov.

Two members of the commission voted against: Yu.P. Saveliev and Yu.P. Ivanov.