22:10, 10 May 2007

Beslan militiamen of North Ossetia petition for amnesty

At the court session on the case of Beslan ROVD (District Interior Unit) commanders (North Ossetia), the defendants have lodged a petition that the amnesty should be applied to them, as to the militiamen who operated inside a zone of counterterrorist operation.

The victims are sure that this is a result of defendants' conspiracy with the Public Prosecutor's Office.

In view of the lodged petition, the court has retired for deliberation till May 22. Until then, the victims promise to hold protest actions, the "Gazeta.Ru" reports.

The former chief of Beslan ROVD and his two deputies are accused of a negligence that has resulted in mass loss of people. None of the defendants has admitted his guilt. Miroslav Aidarov, ex-chief of the ROVD, and his deputy Guram Dryaev were appointed to their positions less than 20 days before September 1, 2004, when militants seized the school in Beslan.