Court extends arrest of defendants in Crocus terrorist attack case for six months
A military court in Moscow has extended the arrest of those accused in the case of the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall in the Moscow region until January 7, including two natives of Ingushetia and four detained in Dagestan.
As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, on March 22, 2024, armed men broke into the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk near Moscow, opened fire and set fire to it. 145 people were killed, and the FSB classified the incident as a terrorist attack. This terrorist attack was thelargest in the Moscow region in 30 years. On June 23, it became known that the investigation into the case of 19 people accused of involvement in the terrorist attack was completed, and their case was transferred to the prosecutor's office.
In April 2024, four Tajik citizens, Shakhromdzhon Gadoev, Mustakim Soliev, Zubaydullo Ismailov, Umedzhon Soliev, and Russian citizen Khusein Khamidov, who worked as tilers at construction sites in Makhachkala and Kaspiysk, were arrested in Dagestan. Investigators believe that they were preparing a terrorist attack in Kaspiysk and supplied weapons to those involved in the attack on Crocus City Hall. In November 2024, Ingush residents Khusein Medov and Dzhabrail Aushev were detained in connection with the terrorist attack. The investigation links them to the recognized terrorist militant wing of the Ingush vird Batalkhadzhintsy. In December 2024, four more Ingush residents were detained, suspected of aiding the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall.
The first court hearing in the case of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall took place in Moscow today. Shortly after the start of the hearing, the court decided to close the hearing based on a letter from the FSB about a possible threat to the state prosecutor and the victims, said lawyer Lyudmila Aivar, who represents the interests of the victims.
According to the lawyer, the closed format of the hearing is not related to the disclosure of information of national importance, but only for security reasons for the participants in the process, who are afraid of the remaining representatives of the terrorist organization at large.
Among the 19 defendants, there are no organizers of the terrorist attack; all of them are wanted outside of Russia. Four defendants, whom the prosecution considers to be the direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack, pleaded guilty: these are citizens of Tajikistan Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakram Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni and Muhammadsobir Faizov.
Five defendants categorically refused to admit guilt, claiming that they transferred money to “poor, needy brothers and sisters” without the intention of financing terrorism. The remaining defendants partially admitted guilt. “Those who partially admitted guilt stated that they transferred money, rented out apartments, sold cars, but did not know that they were participating in a terrorist act,” RTVI quotes Aivar as saying.
The prosecution believes that natives of Ingushetia Dzhabrail Aushev and Khusein Medov handed over Kalashnikov assault rifles with cartridges and magazines to terrorists for 1 million rubles. Medov and Aushev are also accused of converting a blank-firing weapon into a live one, while those detained in Dagestan, Shakhromdzhon Gadoev, Zubaydullo Ismoilov, Khusein Khamidov and brothers Umedzhon and Mustakim Soliev, are accused of delivering machine guns and ammunition to the perpetrators of the attack, the BBC Russian Service clarifies.
In addition to Dzhabrail Aushev and Khusein Medov, two other natives of Ingushetia are also involved in the case - Khavazh-Bagaudin Aliyev and Batyr Kulaev have been declared wanted. The investigation also considers them to be suppliers of weapons to the militants. At the preliminary hearing, representatives of Aushev and Medov reported that they admit involvement in the illegal arms trade, but do not admit involvement in the terrorist attack, since they did not know where and how their weapons would be used, Fortanga noted in a publication on July 31.
Zubaydullo Ismoilov bought weapons in Ingushetia and Dagestan. He pleaded guilty to illegal arms trafficking. In Tajikistan, Ismoilov was convicted in 2016 for public calls for violent change of the constitutional order. After his release from prison, he began coming to Russia to earn money, RIA Novosti writes with reference to the case materials.
Among those who partially admitted guilt are Umedzhon Soliev, Zubaydullo Ismoilov and Shakhromdzhon Gadoev, who were detained in Kaspiysk, and who are also charged with making a homemade explosive device and preparing a terrorist attack on the Kaspiysk embankment, the Telegram channel “Only Facts. Dagestan” notes.
According to lawyer Aivar, one of the accused speaks Chechen and only four speak Russian, while all the rest speak Tajik. The court provided translators for those who do not speak Russian.
The state prosecutor asked to extend the preventive measure for all defendants for six months. Five defendants who did not admit guilt categorically objected and demanded release. Four defendants who admitted guilt agreed to extend their arrest, and the court granted the prosecutor's motion. The accused will remain in custody until at least January 7, 2026, Kommersant writes.
The case is being heard by the 2nd Western District Military Court, but the hearings are taking place in the Moscow City Court building, which has a fairly spacious courtroom. The personal data of all the accused were included in the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring even before the verdict.
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