Head of the parliamentary commission Alexander Torshin managed to investigate Beslan tragedy before the new year.
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Commission Ends Terrorist Act
// Alexander Torshin released the final report on Beslan tragedy
It was the fault of terrorists and police
Federation Council Deputy Speaker Alexander Torshin released the parliamentary commission’s final report on Beslan terrorist act. It says main fault is with the terrorists who caused bomb explosions in the school, and with police who failed to intercept the terrorists. Security troops did not storm the school, they just helped hostages to escape. They used heavy weapons only when there remained no hostages inside. However, Torshin admitted that the crisis center might have made some mistakes. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General’s Office has not finished investigating the case. Moreover, it is checking the versions mentioned in the alternative report by the commission’s member State Duma deputy Yuri Savelyev.
The report’s main conclusion is that federal and local authorities, as well as the crisis center, are not guilty in the tragedy that took away 333 lives. The report admits that North Ossetian and Ingush authorities might have made some mistakes, but says they could not control the events.
The report says that bomb explosions were caused by terrorists’ actions. Heavy weapons (RPO-A flame guns and tanks) were used to shoot at the school after 6 p.m. when all refugees had already been evacuated. It states that flame guns did not cause fire in the school.
Torshin names Aslan Maskhadov, Shamil Basaev, Abu-Dzeit, and Magomed Khashiev as the crime’s organizers, adding that the school’s seizure was initially planned as a suicide attack.
Beslan victims are dissatisfied with the report, however. The investigation is not over yet. Moreover, the commission’s conclusions are legally unsound now. The Prosecutor General’s Office has not finished the probe of Beslan events, and is now carrying out additional investigatory actions.
Deputy Prosecutor General Ivan Sydoruk commissioned the investigators to check the information in the alternative report on Beslan by State Duma deputy Yuri Savelyev. Sydoruk ordered to carry out additional expertises, which will be over in several months. Thus, it is too early to make conclusions about the alleged innocence of authorities and the terrorists having caused explosions.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 23, 2006
|
|
|
