Translated material
Mother Court
“Mothers of Beslan” staged a pogrom to protest against the acquittal of police officers
The Pravoberezhny District Court of North Ossetia yesterday granted amnesty to the former leaders of the Pravoberezhny District Department of Internal Affairs, accused of negligence that contributed to the terrible terrorist attack , which resulted in the death of 331 people in the Beslan school No. 1 captured by terrorists on September 1, 2004.In the dock were the former head of the police department Miroslav Aidarov and his deputies Taimuraz Murtazov and Guram Dryaev. On May 10, they filed a petition for an amnesty act to be applied to them. The court granted the petition, while recognizing the guilt of the police. But the women who lost their children during the tragedy were unhappy with this decision. They demanded that the legal proceedings be completed. And when the decision on amnesty was finally made, the women began to destroy the court.
The investigation of the criminal case against the former leaders of the Pravoberezhny District Department of Internal Affairs was conducted by the Main Directorate of the Prosecutor General's Office in the Southern Federal District. The investigation decided that the police, being officials, did not take measures to protect public order, which contributed to the unimpeded passage of the militants and the seizure of the school. On September 1, 2004, 1,128 people who came to the ceremony at Beslan school No. 1 ended up in the hands of terrorists. For three days, the hostages were kept in a school building filled with explosives. The attack killed 186 children and 145 adults. 31 militants were killed. The only surviving participant in the attack, Nurpashi Kulaev, was sentenced to life imprisonment last May.
The trial of Aidarov, Murtazov and Dryaev began more than a year ago . At the beginning of May, the defendants and their lawyers filed a petition asking to dismiss the criminal case, since the defendants fall under the resolution of the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted on September 22, 2006 “On declaring an amnesty for persons who committed crimes during the counter-terrorism operation in the Southern Federal District.” According to intelligence services documents, the counter-terrorist operation was carried out in Beslan from September 1 to September 5, 2004. The state prosecution did not express any objections to this petition, leaving the decision to the discretion of the court.
The Pravoberezhny Court intended to begin announcing the decision on the petition yesterday at 11 am. However, the judge was unable to begin reading. The women (mostly mothers of dead children came to court) were outraged by the fact that the accused themselves did not appear at the announcement. In addition, the victims stated that releasing police officers under an amnesty before they testify at the trial is simply impossible. A break was announced, but the victims did not allow the decision to be read out in the evening. After the judge ignored the victims' demands, the women began to destroy the courtroom.
“Everyone spits on us. The judge ran away and abandoned us. We will destroy the entire courthouse,” commented the chairman of the “Mothers of Beslan” committee, Susanna Dudieva. According to the victims, such a court decision will contribute to the “collapse” of a similar criminal case on charges against the leaders of the Malgobek District Department of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia, Mukhazhir Evloev and his deputy Akhmed Kotiev - the gang that seized the school in Beslan was freely gathering on the territory entrusted to them.
To calm down the raging victims, who began tearing blinds from the windows, breaking glass and breaking furniture, additional bailiffs were called into the courtroom. At the same time, the judge decided to read the decision secretly from the victims in another room in the presence of only the state prosecutor, secretary, bailiff and two video cameras. According to the decision, the police were amnestied.