Sole surviving Beslan attacker sentenced life in prison
(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-26 16:13
A southern Russian court on Friday said the sole surviving Beslan school
attacker deserved the death penalty, but sentenced him to life in prison because
of the country's moratorium on capital punishment.
Classmates and
relatives cry at the grave of a schoolboy killed during the Beslan siege.
A southern Russian court on Friday said the sole surviving Beslan school
attacker deserved the death penalty, but sentenced him to life in prison.
[AFP] |
Nur-Pashi Kulayev was found guilty of taking hostages, named responsible for
the deaths of 330 people and inflicting material damage worth 34 million rubles
(US$1.3 million, euro1 million).
Judge Tamerlan Aguzarov said that Kulayev had detonated a bomb that had dealt
bodily harm to hostages and government troops. The judge said 16 hostages whom
the militants executed on the first day of the assault had died in part due to
Kulayev's actions.
Mothers of the victims, wearing mourning black, crowded the courtroom on
Friday, the eighth day of the verdict reading, to hear the sentence. Some held
banners reading, "There is no forgiveness of the authorities who let Beslan
happen," and photos of tanks and dead children.
Survivors and victims' relatives also claim many deaths occurred because
troops fired at the school from tanks and flame-throwers, sparking a fire that
caused the roof to collapse over many wounded.
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