Court extends detention of Chechen native suspected in the Dubrovka terrorist attack

The Presnensky court in Moscow has left Hassan Zakayev in custody for another four months. He is suspected of aiding the organizers in the capture of the Dubrovka Theatrical Center on October 23, 2002.

«Caucasian Knot» reported earlier that on December 17, 2014, it became known that the investigation into the terrorist attack that took place during the musical ‘Nord-Ost’ had resumed. This was in connection with the detention of Hassan Zakayev, a 41-year-old native of Chechnya, who was detained while trying to enter the Crimea from Ukraine using forged documents. The Presnensky district court in Moscow set his detention to last until February 18, 2015.

Today it became known that the court has granted a request by investigators, and extended Hassan Zakayev's detention until June 21, according to reports by the RAPSI court press service.

There have not yet been any reports of comments by Hassan Zakayev or his representatives.

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Prisoner Akhyad Mezhiyev has passed away in infirmary #12 of the Russian federal penitentiary system. In 2004, he had been convicted of complicity in two high-profile terrorist attacks in Moscow — the bombing of a McDonald's restaurant, and aiding in the capture of hostages at the musical ‘Nord-Ost’. According to unofficial information, he died from a severe form of tuberculosis. An investigation conducted into the circumstances of his death found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Akhyad Mezhiyev was the youngest member Chechen native Aslambek Khaskhanov's criminal gang. He was brought to court for participating in the bombing of a McDonald's located in the southwest of Moscow, and for the taking of hostages at the Dubrovka theater. In 2004, 18-year-old Akhyad Mezhiyev was sentenced to 18 years by Moscow City Court under Article 105 of the Criminal Code (murder), Article 222 (trafficking in weapons), and Article 205 (committing a terrorist act). His brother Alikhan Mezhiyev received 22 years. Akhyad Mezhiyev had been serving out his sentence in one of the penal colonies in the Kirov region, and in five years would have qualified for parole.

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The reopening of the investigation into the October 2002 attack on actors and spectators at the musical ‘Nord-Ost’ 

On Wednesday, Russia's Investigative Committee (ICRF) confirmed several media reports on the resumption of the criminal investigation into the seizure of the Dubrovka Theater Center, which occurred October 23, 2002. In 2007, the Moscow city prosecutor's office suspended the investigation due to the fact that it was not possible to detain organizers of the attack. Six terrorist accomplices received sentences ranging from 8 1/2 to 22 years in prison. ICRF representative Vladimir Markin reported on the arrest of Chechen native Hassan Zakayev, who is suspected of organizing the attack. He was arrested in August, but information about this has only lately appeared in the media.

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'Nord-Ost' set the value of a citizen’s life, but it has yet to be indexed

Even after the decision of the European Court, no one wants to name those really responsible for most of the hostage deaths at Dubrovka

The twelfth anniversary of ‘Nord-Ost’ is this Sunday. Russia does not like to recall such dates, however. It seems high time all these Nor’easters to grow out of it. So what? All the terrorists involved in the hostage taking were killed, and all lawsuits — both in Russia and abroad — had their day in court. Some people were compensated… But relatives and former hostages still kick up a fuss, still looking for some kind of truth. But why?

To better to understand why, in a nutshell, let me remind you what ‘Nord-Ost’ means. Let me remind you what happened back then at Dubrovka, and that has been going for the last 12 years — because ‘Nord-Ost’ did not end with the assault and the death of 130 hostages. It has been continuing and I would even venture to say, still continues. It leaves open a route for further blood to be spilled in our Russian reality, and to some extent even justifies it by convincingly showing us all that when people die in the name of the abstract interests of the state, no one will, or should, be found responsible.

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