Passions run high at Beslan trial

Earlier today, victims in the Beslan school attack case decided not to leave the Supreme Court of North Ossetia until the key prosecution witness comes to the trial. They changed their mind later though, Radio Liberty says. Now the victims demand that the court should provide guarantees that North Ossetia's ex-president Alexander Dzasokhov will arrive at the trial after all.

Beslan Mothers Committee Chairwoman Susanna Dudiyeva spoke on behalf of the victims at the trial, Interfax reports. She noted that relatives of those killed in Beslan thought that the court delayed decision-making on those issues that interested the victims most, in particular summoning North Ossetia's ex-president Alexander Dzasokhov to the trial as a witness. "We believe that Dzasokhov should be recalled from the Federation Council, we've had enough of Dzasokhov hiding behind his immunity as a Federation Council member," Ms Dudiyeva said.

She also added that the victims had filed an address concerning the inadvisability of Mr Dzasokhov's membership of the upper house of the federal parliament to the North Ossetian legislature and to residents of the republic.

It should be noted that the cause of indignation of those in the courtroom was failure to come to the trial on the part of some witnesses summoned to the hearing.

In particular, the following persons, invited earlier to give evidence as witnesses, failed to arrive: North Ossetia's ex-president Alexander Dzasokhov, Ingushetia's ex-president Ruslan Aushev, businessman Mikhail Gutseriyev, and former North Ossetian Education Minister Alina Levitskaya. Meanwhile, the victims had more than once, including at the previous hearing, insisted that these witnesses attend.

The victims were also discontent that the actions of the operations headquarters in Beslan had been recognised adequate.

Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolai Shepel told Interfax on 26 December that the situational examination in the Beslan terrorist act case had not revealed violations in the actions of the operations headquarters and law enforcement and security agencies.

"The stirring result of a 15-month investigation into the Beslan tragedy is that no one accounts and is responsible for the security of citizens in this country, as there are not enough forces and funds. Dozens of law enforcement and security agencies, thousands of generals, and we must defend ourselves barehanded. Methods and mechanism capable of protecting the population from the threat of terrorist acts do not work in Russia," says a statement of victims concerning the results of the situational examination.

Meanwhile, the federal parliamentary commission for an investigation into the causes and circumstances of the terrorist act in Beslan will deliver the report on its work between September 2004 and December 2005 on 28 December, Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov said at a press conference earlier today. He also emphasised though that the parliamentary commission would not be able to finish its work and present the final report until it had the results of three examinations, including the situational one.

Three hundred and thirty-one people were killed in the terrorist act in Beslan on 3 September 2004.

• Beslan Voice leader resentful of examination results

More info:

• Life Line Beslan

External links

• Beslan.ru

Caucasian Knot is not responsible for the content of external internet sites