"Novaya Gazeta": SC of North Ossetia amnesties all criminals with epaulets

Because of the fact that on August 2 the Supreme Court (SC) of North Ossetia upheld the legality of applying amnesty to the three commanders of the Pravoberezhny District Interior Department (ROVD), quite willfully a legal precedent has been created, the "Novaya Gazeta" is writing today. By their decision, the judged have in fact amnestied all the current and future criminals having epaulets on their shoulders.

We remind you that it was first of all through negligence of law enforcement bodies of the district level that the capture of Beslan School No. 1 became possible.

Please remember that the victims' cassation petition comprised the following three main points:

1) The amnesty of September 22, 2006, refers to terrorists and participants of the counterterrorist operation. Militiamen Aidarov, Dryayev and Murtazov are not covered by any of these categories. Their negligent actions imputed by the prosecution were committed before September 1, 2004, when there was no counterterrorist operation in Beslan.

2) The duration of this particular amnesty act was six months, but the militiamen petitioned that this amnesty should be applied to them seven months later, when the amnesty had expired.

3) The militiamen Aidarov, Dryayev and Murtazov have not pled guilty and were not found as such by the first instance court (see the court ruling in the web site golosbeslana.ru). The amnesty cannot be applied to those who have not pled or recognized guilty.

Meanwhile, the court called these arguments "ungrounded" and gave its own ones instead: the amnesty of September 22, 2006, has no period of limitation, and the fact that on the eve of September 1, 2004, the militiamen drew their duty in strengthened regime allows equating them to the participants of the counterterrorist operation. And the fact that they have petitioned about the amnesty already means recognition by them of their guilt, the "Novaya Gazeta" reports.