[ad_1] The four men accused of involvement in the Moscow concert hall massacre that killed 137 people have faced court bloodied and bruised, with on
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The four men accused of involvement in the Moscow concert hall massacre that killed 137 people have faced court bloodied and bruised, with one man bound to a wheelchair and another missing part of his ear.
The group were marched blindfolded into a Moscow courtroom on Sunday local time and charged with terrorism as Russia observed a national day of mourning following the attack at Crocus City Hall on Friday night.
According to Moscow’s Basmanny district court the men face life imprisonment and will be held in detention until at least May 22, although this may be extended depending on the date of their trial.
Court reports named the four men as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni and Muhammadsobir Fayzov.
Officials have said the gunmen were all foreign nationals.
The men appeared visibly injured, with Mirzoyev and Rachabalizoda’s eyes blackened and the latter’s ear heavily bandaged – reportedly from it being partially severed during his arrest.
The right side of Fariduni’s face was swollen and Fayzov was brought into court in a wheelchair and appeared to have an eye missing, according to the Reuters news agency.
The court said two of the defendants had pleaded guilty, and one of them, from Tajikistan, had “entirely acknowledged his guilt”.
President Vladimir Putin vowed to punish those behind the “barbaric terrorist attack”, and on Saturday said the four gunmen had been arrested while trying to flee to Ukraine. Kyiv has strongly denied any connection to the attack.
Videos circulated online captured the moment soldiers detained the men in the Bryansk region of western Russia, allegedly near the Ukrainian border.
One suspect is filmed on his knees with his arms and legs tied together as he apparently confesses to carrying out the mass shooting in exchange for $16,612 (₽1,000,000), allegedly on behalf of the ISIS-K jihadist group.
Putin has made no public reference to the Islamic State’s (IS) claims of responsibility.
At least 137 people, including three children, were killed when gunmen stormed the concert hall in Moscow’s northern suburb of Krasnogorsk, then set fire to the building.
It is the deadliest attack in Europe to have been claimed by IS.
There was no statement on the other seven suspects arrested in connection with the mass shooting.
‘Machineguns, knives, firebombs’
The Islamic State group posted to Telegram on Saturday that the attack was “carried out by four IS fighters armed with machine guns, a pistol, knives and firebombs” as part of “the raging war (with) countries fighting Islam”.
A video lasting about a minute and half, apparently filmed by the gunmen, has been posted on social media accounts typically used by IS, according to the SITE intelligence group.
The video – which appears to have been filmed from the lobby of the concert venue – shows several individuals with blurred faces and garbled voices, firing assault rifles with bodies strewn on the floor and a fire starting in the background.
Russian investigators said that after walking through the theatre shooting spectators, the gunmen set fire to the building, trapping many inside.
Health officials said the number of casualties had risen to 182, with 101 people still in hospital, of whom 40 were in “critical” or “extremely critical” condition.
The attack was the deadliest in Russia since the Beslan school siege in 2004. The emergency situations ministry has so far named 29 of the victims, but the blaze has complicated the process of identification.
The ministry on Sunday posted a video of heavy equipment arriving at the venue to dismantle damaged structures and clear debris.
‘Morally crushed’
On the streets of the capital on Sunday, there was shock and grief. “It is a tragedy. I was morally crushed,” Ruslana Baranovskaya, 35, told AFP.
“People don’t smile … everybody feels the loss,” said 73-year-old Valentina Karenina, a pensioner standing on a street off Red Square.
Museums, theatres and cinemas around the country closed, and billboards were replaced with memorial posters.
Mourners continued to stream to the concert hall in northwest Moscow to lay flowers as a tribute to the victims.
More than 5,000 people donated blood following the attack, officials said, with many standing in long queues outside clinics.
Abroad, people left floral tributes outside Russian embassies in sympathy. Putin on Saturday vowed “retribution and oblivion” to the “terrorists, murderers and non-humans” who carried out the “barbaric terrorist attack”.
Several of his allies have called for the country to lift a moratorium on the death penalty, sparking concern among Kremlin critics.
Putin points to Ukraine
A statement released by Putin on Saturday suggested Ukraine was connected to the attack.
“(The suspects) tried to escape and were travelling towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border,” Putin said of the attackers in his televised address.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his own evening address on Saturday, rejected any suggestion that Kyiv had been involved.
In Moscow, some doubted Putin’s claims.
“I’m not inclined to believe the version about Ukraine’s involvement … this is more like those committed by Islamist extremists,” said Vomik Aliyev, a 22-year-old who often went to the concert hall and who said his parents were Muslim.
Washington also dismissed any suggestion that Kyiv had been involved.
“ISIS (Islamic State group) bears sole responsibility for this attack,” said White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson.
– with AFP
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