Judge reads testimony of child hostages in Beslan trial
A Russian judge today continued reading the lengthy verdict in the trial of the sole suspected participant of the Beslan school attack which left 331 people dead, quoting horrific testimony of child hostages.
The reading of the Vladikavkaz verdict against Nur-Pashi Kulayev stretched into its fifth day, with children’s accounts of being terrified and bullied by black-clad gunmen, deprived of water and forced to drink urine.
Prosecutors have called for the death penalty for Kulayev, who has admitted to participating in the attack, but denied killing anybody.
Judge Tamerlan Aguzarov has already established that Kulayev participated in crimes including murder, committing a terrorist act and the seizure of hostages, but the formal conviction will be announced only after all circumstances of the crime are pronounced by the court.
Court officials and prosecutors said they expect the verdict to be announced this week.
Most victims died on the third day of the siege in a hail of gunfire and explosions that erupted after one of the bombs the attackers rigged at the school went off, and security forces rushed to free hostages.
