The alleged attackers of the attack in Moscow appeared very weakened in court. They were allegedly tortured during their interrogation.
The death toll from the Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow has reportedly risen further. The world reported Monday 144 dead and 285 injured. The Islamic State organization claimed responsibility for the attack and yet the Russian government persists in not mentioning it, ensuring on the other hand that the attackers were trying to go to Ukraine, after the attack, where they had contacts. The four alleged attackers were remanded in custody by a court in the Russian capital and face life imprisonment, according to a statement from Moscow’s Basmanny Court.
Three of them confessed by pleading guilty. However, according to The world, at least two of them were said to have suffered torture during their interrogation. A video broadcast by the channel Telegram Saturday showed, in fact, the interrogation of one of the suspects, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, during which a man in camouflage clothing held him on the ground and cut off a piece of his right ear with a knife. He also tries, in the images, to force him to eat it.
The next day, the Russian channel published another photo showing Fariduni Shamsidin, one of the accused, being interrogated and tortured by electrocution. In the photo, he is lying on the ground, pants down, with an electric generator connected to his genitals. The Russian site Meduza affirms that the arrested were indeed “tortured during their interrogation”. The question of the sincerity of the confessions can then be raised.
Suspects in bad condition in court
Footage was also released showing the suspects being brought into the courtroom handcuffed and sitting in the glass cage. Some have bandages, blood on their faces and one of them arrived in a wheelchair. They appear, in fact, very physically affected. “They were dragged before the court, first blindfolded, then with their faces uncovered, with signs of swelling of the face and ears, one of them was even in a wheelchair,” described the Italian media Corriere della Sera.
“The detention was as severe as possible. The main goal was to obtain information that would help find out more about the instigators. The FSB officers, knowing what the fugitives had done to Crocus, held back with difficulty “, specified the Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets.