The court hall was filled to capacity yesterday, mainly by the relatives and friends of Mikhail Artamonov. Only five relatives of 98 victims of the terror acts attended the hearing. Most of them have never believed in Artamonov’s guilt, saying the real party in fault is not the policeman but his direct bosses, who hadn’t properly arranged safety procedures in the airport, as well as East Line that manages it.

Nevertheless, judge Natalia Mishina declared Mikhail Artamonov guilty, saying he had failed to thoroughly search Satsit Dzhebirkhanova and Amanat Nagaeva, who arrived in Moscow from Makhachkala. The court decided Artamonov had ignored instructions to pay special attention to the Chechens, particularly to women from 20 to 40 years old. On the day of tragedy, August 24, Artamonov was to be especially watchful, because of the act of terror in the bus stop at Kashirskoe highway that heads for Domodedovo airport, the judge said. Having studied all documents submitted to the court, judge Mishina gave the maximum sentence to Artamonov under “The Negligence Resulted in the Death of One or More Persons” Clause of the RF Criminal Code. Artamonov was condemned to seven years in colony with a general regime, though the prosecutor called for no more than six years.

“This performance with the criminal case against me was staged by the prosecutors not to bring to account the true guilty of tragedy. If the explosive device managed to find its way to board of the plane, it means the examination had not been properly arranged,” Artamonov said, having heard the verdict. “I have a feeling that I live somewhat in 1930s, when a man could have been pointed by finger and then “closed,”” Artamonov said.

Russia’s Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov called Artamonov guilty even before the trial. Ustinov said Artamonov had not searched the shakhids at all. But during the trial, it turned out Artamonov and other policemen had checked Dzhebirkhanova and Nagaeva but found no reasons for detention. The women’ names were absent in online database, they were traveling without luggage and had transit tickets (they bought new tickets to Sochi and Volgograd). The women received shakhid belts strait before stepping aboard and applied them sitting in the armchairs of the planes, the experts found out, having examined the remains of the shakhids.

“The verdict is clearly contrary to law,” Artamonov’s lawyer Sergey Kazimirov said, promising to appeal.