 "The men behind the Moscow concert hall attack that killed at least 137 people")
Following the tragic concert shooting at the Crocus City concert hall near Moscow last Friday, which resulted in the deaths of at least 137 people, four suspected gunmen were arrested and placed in pre-trial detention. They appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday with visible injuries. All have been identified by Russian media as citizens of Tajikistan. The Kremlin declined to comment on Monday when asked about allegations of torture.
According to Moscow’s Basmanny district court, all four suspects have been charged with terrorism and could face life imprisonment. Their detention is currently set until 22 May but may be extended depending on the trial date, as reported by News18.
According to a New York Times report, US officials have stated that the attack was carried out by the Islamic State , which claimed responsibility and released photos of the attackers along with video footage of the attack itself.
While Russia’s president Vladimir Putin attributed the attack to “international terrorism,” he did not specifically mention the Islamic State. Russia’s state media has attempted to lay blame on Ukraine, a claim that Ukraine has denied.
Here’s what we know about the four suspects.
Muhammadsobir Fayzov
Fayzov, 19, is the youngest of the detainees. Russian media said he had been working as a barber in a town northeast of Moscow.
On Saturday, several Telegram channels published a video showing him being questioned while lying on a hospital bed. Photographs circulating online on Sunday appeared to show Fayzov with one of his eyes missing. He was taken to court in a wheelchair and the hearing was closed to journalists, unlike those for the other three suspects. He was photographed sitting in the wheelchair with his head slumped backwards and both eyes closed, apparently oblivious to what was going on around him.
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More ShortsDalerdzhon Mirzoyev
Mirzoyev is 32 and has four children.
In a video of his interrogation, he said through an interpreter that he lived “in a hostel near the motorway” with another man, Mukhamad, and that 10-12 days earlier they had bought a car “for work” from someone called Abdullo. He was not seen speaking about the attack.
Mirzoyev occasionally flew from Moscow to Tajikistan and back, according to leaked air travel data. In 2011 he was prosecuted for violating immigration rules, according to a court database.
Photographs from the courtroom showed him with cuts and heavy bruising to his face.
Shamsidin Fariduni
Fariduni, 25, said in an interrogation video published on social media that he had arrived from Turkey on 4 March. He was trembling while being questioned by the side of a road, with his hands tied behind his back. He said that he had “shot people” in Crocus City Hall “for money”, having been offered 500,000 roubles ($5,400 or Rs 4.50 lakh) by a person he did not identify.
A photograph published later by Grey Zone, a Telegram channel that is close to the Wagner mercenary group, showed Fariduni lying on the floor with his trousers rolled down to his knees and someone standing on his legs.
When he appeared in court on Sunday, Fariduni had a large bruise on the left side of his face.
Saidakrami Rachabalizoda
Rachabalizoda, 30, was shown being beaten and abused in a series of videos published by Grey Zone.
In one clip, a man in camouflage uniform cuts off part of his right ear and stuffs it in the suspect’s mouth. “You now have one ear left,” says a voice in another video in which Rachabalizoda is being interrogated. On Sunday he appeared in court with a large bandage around his right ear and with bruises and caked blood on his face.
In 2018 Rachabalizoda was prosecuted and fined 2,500 roubles ($27 or Rs 2,250) for a violation of immigration rules, according to a court database.
With inputs from Reuters
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