Prosecutor's Office restarts inquiry into Dubrovka terror act

The Moscow Prosecutor's Office has cancelled the statement on termination of the criminal case on the terror act in Dubrovka in October 2002. The Investigatory Committee was instructed start an additional investigation into the tragedy.

"We had complained to the Investigatory Committee of Russia and the Prosecutor's Office that the group of militants who escaped from the theatre was not found; also, a part of the firearms, equipment of space communication and the computer, which the terrorists used to get on the Internet, were not found. We have justified all that; and prosecutors and investigators have accepted our evidences, cancelled the ruling on termination of the criminal case and instructed to restart the investigation," said the victims' advocate Igor Trunov, who is quoted by the "Interfax".

As it became known in the course of investigation, the terrorists who captured the theatrical centre were helped by the militia. Many of the militants had fake passports issued by law enforcement bodies of Karachay-Cherkessia, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

On June 20, 2003, the Moscow City Court found Zaurbek Talkhigov guilty of helping terrorists and hostage-taking in the Dubrovka House of Culture. According to investigators, Talkhigov contacted the militants by mobile phone and informed them about the location of snipers and armoured vehicles in the vicinity of the theatre. The defendant refused to plead guilty; and the court sentenced him to 8.5 years in prison. On October 16, 2003, the prosecutor's office decided to stop the criminal proceedings because of death of terrorists.

According to the public poll conducted by the "Levada Centre" on October 8-11, 2010, 74 percent of responding Russians believe that Russian authorities had failed to tell the whole truth about what happened in October 2002 in the Dubrovka theatrical centre.