Beslan terror act victims demand to bring case against Putin

On June 4, the members of the all-Russian NGO "Voice of Beslan" lodged an application to the Public Prosecutor of the Russian Federation with a demand to interrogate the former president, and nowadays the prime minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin as a witness in case about the terror act in Beslan school in September 2004, and to initiate a criminal case against him.

"We ask to open a criminal case against ex-president Vladimir Putin under a number of Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation," said co-chair of the "Voices of Beslan" Ella Kesaeva as quoted by the website "Sobcor.Ru".

"According to the Federal Defence Law, in need of using army not to its purpose, the corresponding order shall be given by the president. Here, tanks and flame throwers were applied against the school full of children-hostages; it indicates V. Putin's personal participation in the storm," Ms Kesaeva has stated.

"The victims have the right to address the General Prosecutor's Office with reference to V. Putin's words in his interview to the French newspaper 'Le Monde' that 'the storm was executed correctly, negotiations with militants were not held, and there was no way to make concessions to terrorists'," Ella Kesaeva has stated on air of the "Echo Moskvy" Radio Station.

"Saying that power agents acted correctly is possible only after a proper investigation, which was never held," Ms Kesaeva has emphasized. "Until now, the actions of power agents have not been assessed from the legal viewpoint, nobody has ever been punished for the death of more than 300 peaceful citizens, and no lessons have been learnt from the tragedy."