Alleged accomplice interrogated in North Ossetia

A cleaner in Beslan's school No 1 thought by victims to be an accomplice of the terrorists has been interrogated in North Ossetia. Ms Zarema Digurov was a cleaner in the school and her son was a watchman there. She has claimed that she examined the school several times on the night of 1 September, but found nothing suspicious. In the morning on 1 September, Ms Digurov was cleaning up in a school corridor and saw nothing unusual either. Her home was in the schoolyard and she never saw any suspicious people reported to have been sitting on some boxes.

Ms Digurov had been taken hostage together with her 17-year-old son. At the trial, she was reluctant to speak about the developments in the school on 1-3 September, 2004, and repeated several times that the gunmen degraded hostages.

Victims then began to express resentment at the fact that Ms Digurov was giving false evidence as they saw it.

"Your sons stayed in your house near the school throughout those three days," Ms Felissa Batagov maintained. "How could the gunmen fail to see them when all rooms were examined and hiding people were taken even from the boiler-room? How could it happen that they didn't even peer into your house?" asked Ms Batagov.

Ms Digurov answered that she did not know how the gunmen had failed to see her sons and how the latter managed to stay there all the three days. "The gunmen knew your sons and therefore, they didn't touch them. And if you don't know, then it'll be lynching," they shouted in the courtroom. Women began to grow indignant, and passions in the courtroom were running high, so interrogation of Ms Digurov had to be stopped and she had to be led out.

Justice Tamerlan Aguzarov called in another witness, Ms Rima Kokov, who began to disprove Ms Digurov's evidence. (Victims had previously solicited interrogation of Ms Kokov.) She asked Ms Digurov to be called in too, so that she heard her entire evidence.

"I am one of those who saw strangers near the school," Ms Kokov began. She said that she lived very close to the school: there were only garages between her house and the school and wherever she was going, she was always going past the schoolyard. Besides, the school was observed well from her window. Ms Kokov said that she had repeatedly seen Ms Digurov beat children playing in the schoolyard.

"I know that Digurov has beaten children playing in the yard, sometimes very cruelly. She may object now, if her conscience permits her. She should be seated near Kulayev. No one reported her to the police, she was mentally inadequate, no one wanted to get mixed up with her."

Witness Rima Kokov together with her neighbour Ms Susanna Dudiev was looking out the window when the 1 September ceremony began. As soon as shooting began, they saw people in masks running along a corridor on the first floor.

"As soon as we heard the first shots, we at once saw people in masks running along the corridor on the first floor. Susanna told me too: look, people in masks are running. I recollected that only after the terrorist act. I also clearly remember: balloons flew up and shooting began. I think this was a sort of signal to start the operation."

"I saw suspicious people at the entrance to the school on 29 August," Ms Kokov continued to disprove Ms Digurov's words. "They were dressed in camouflage uniforms. I was afraid to look at them, even to turn around. Two of them were playing backgammon and the third one was standing in the doorway."

Ms Kokov explained that she had recollected this episode only on 8 September. "I heard Kolesnikov's report, he said those were lawn-mowers. But where are those lawn-mowers? Let them come here. My neighbours and I have analysed and recollected much since the terrorist act and we have understood that we saw a lot."

• Beslan headquarters members interrogated