Russia's representative at ECtHR denies rights violations of Beslan terror act victims

At assaulting the Beslan School, the Russian Federation did not violate any victims' rights, said Georgy Matyushkin, the Deputy Minister of Justice of Russia, who is representing the defendant at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 14, the ECtHR held a public hearing on the terror act in Beslan. The focus of the court was the measures taken by the authorities to prevent the terror act, issues related to the indiscriminate use of firearms and planning of the rescue operation. The ECtHR retired for formulating the decision, which may be announced within a couple of months.

During the capture of hostages at Beslan School, power agents acted in accordance with circumstances, given that the situation was "non-standard", Matyushkin said on October 14 in the course of the hearing, adding that the investigation of the case was conducted objectively and impartially.

The Deputy Minister of Justice believes that a bloodless rescue of hostage is impossible to prevent of terminate successfully even in large cities, which possess much better security facilities. Besides, as he said, the terror act in Beslan was carefully organized and prepared; and the group of mercenaries was numerous and nicely armed.

Let us remind you that the applicants, in their turn, asserted that Russian authorities had failed to take sufficient measures to protect peoples' lives and conduct a proper investigation into the death of 331 peaceful citizens.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.