Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the gunmen who killed 139 people at a suburban Moscow are B次元官网网址渞adical Islamists,B次元官网网址� but he repeated his accusation that Ukraine could have played a role despite its strong denials.
Speaking in a meeting with government officials, Putin said the killings were carried out by extremists B次元官网网址渨hose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries.B次元官网网址�
Putin, who declared over the weekend that the four attackers were arrested while trying to escape to Ukraine, said investigators havenB次元官网网址檛 determined who ordered the attack, but that it was necessary to find out B次元官网网址渨hy the terrorists after committing their crime tried to flee to Ukraine and who was waiting for them there.B次元官网网址�
The Islamic State groupB次元官网网址檚 Afghanistan affiliate claimed it carried out the attack, and U.S. intelligence said it had information confirming the group was responsible. French President Emmanuel Macron said France has intelligence pointing to B次元官网网址渁n IS entityB次元官网网址� as responsible for the attack.
B次元官网网址淲e are seeing that the U.S., through various channels, is trying to convince its satellites and other countries of the world that, according to their intelligence, there is allegedly no Kyiv trace in the Moscow terror attack B次元官网网址� that the bloody terrorist act was committed by followers of Islam, members of the Islamic State group,B次元官网网址� Putin said during a meeting with top law enforcement officials.
He added that B次元官网网址渢hose who support the Kyiv regime donB次元官网网址檛 want to be accomplices in terror and sponsors of terrorism, but many questions remain.B次元官网网址�
Putin went on to declare that Ukraine has sought to deflect attention from its battlefield setbacks by waging cross-border attacks on various Russian regions, adding that a B次元官网网址渂loody intimidation acts like the Moscow terror attack look like a logical part of this chain.B次元官网网址�
The attack Friday night at the Crocus City Hall music venue on the western outskirts of Moscow left 139 people dead and more than 180 injured, proving to be the deadliest in Russia in years. About 100 people remained hospitalized, officials said.
Putin warned that more attacks could follow, alleging possible Western involvement. He didnB次元官网网址檛 mention the warning about an imminent terror attacks that the U.S. confidentially shared with Moscow two weeks before the raid or the public. Three days before the attack, Putin denounced the March 7 U.S. Embassy notice urging Americans to avoid crowds in Moscow, including concerts, as an attempt to frighten Russians and B次元官网网址渂lackmailB次元官网网址� the Kremlin ahead of the presidential election.
The four suspected attackers, all of them nationals of Tajikistan, were remanded by a Moscow court Sunday night with carrying out the attack and ordered to remain in custody pending official probe.
Russian media reported that the four were tortured while being interrogated, and they showed signs of being severely beaten during their court appearance. Russian officials said all four pleaded guilty to the charges, which carry life punishment, but their condition raised questions about whether their statements might have been coerced.
Russian authorities reported that seven other suspects have been detained, and three of them were remanded by the court Monday on charges of being involved in the attack.
As they mowed down concertgoers with gunfire, the attackers set fire to the vast concert hall, and the resulting blaze caused the roof to collapse.
The search operation will continue until at least Tuesday afternoon, officials said. A Russian Orthodox priest conducted a service at the site Monday, blessing a makeshift memorial with incense.
Russian officials and lawmakers have urged a severe punishment for all those involved in the attack, and some called for the restoration of capital punishment outlawed since 1997.
During SundayB次元官网网址檚 court hearing, three of the suspects showed signs of heavy bruising, including swollen faces. One of them was in a wheelchair in a hospital gown, accompanied by medical personnel, and sat with his eyes closed throughout. He appeared to have multiple cuts.
Another had a plastic bag still hanging over his neck and a third man had a heavily bandaged ear. Russian media reported Saturday that one suspect had his ear cut off during interrogation. The Associated Press couldnB次元官网网址檛 verify the report or videos purporting to show this.
Dmitry Medvedev, who was RussiaB次元官网网址檚 president from 2008-12 and now serves as deputy head of Security Council chaired by Putin, urged to B次元官网网址渒ill everyone involved. Everyone. Those who paid, those who sympathized, those who helped. Kill them all.B次元官网网址�
Margarita Simonyan, head of the state-funded television channel RT, argued that even the death penalty B次元官网网址� currently banned in Russia B次元官网网址� would be B次元官网网址渢oo easyB次元官网网址� a punishment.
Instead, she said they should face B次元官网网址渓ifelong hard labor somewhere underground, living there too, without the opportunity to ever see light, on bread and water, with a ban on conversations and with a not very humane escort.B次元官网网址�
Russian human rights advocates condemned the violence against the men.
Team Against Torture, a prominent group that advocates against police brutality, said in a statement that the culprits must face stern punishment, but B次元官网网址渟avagery should not be the answer to savagery.B次元官网网址�
It said the value of any testimony obtained by torture was B次元官网网址渃ritically low,B次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渋f the government allows for torture of terrorism suspects, it may allow unlawful violence toward other citizens, too.B次元官网网址�
Net Freedoms, another Russian group that focuses on freedom of speech cases, said MedvedevB次元官网网址檚 remarks, as well as PutinB次元官网网址檚 recent call on security services to B次元官网网址減unish traitors without a statute of limitation no matter where they are,B次元官网网址� made against the backdrop of B次元官网网址渄emonstrative torture of the detained B次元官网网址� effectively authorize extrajudicial killings and give instructions to security forces on how to treat enemies.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e seeing the possible beginning of the new Great Terror,B次元官网网址� Net Freedoms said, referring to mass repressions by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. The group foresees more police brutality against suspects in terrorist-related cases and a spike in violent crimes against migrants.
Abuse of suspects by law enforcement and security services isnB次元官网网址檛 new, said Sergei Davidis of the Memorial human rights group.
B次元官网网址淲e know about torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war, we know about mass torture of those charged with terrorism, high treason and other crimes, especially those investigated by the Federal Security Service. Here, it was for the first time made public,B次元官网网址� Davidis said.
Parading beaten suspects could reflect a desire by authorities to show a muscular response to try to defuse any criticism of their inability to prevent the attack, he said.
The concert hall attack was a major embarrassment for Putin and came less than a week after he cemented his grip on Russia for another six years in a vote that followed the harshest crackdown on dissent since Soviet times.
Many on Russian social media questioned how authorities and their vast security apparatus that actively surveils, pressures and prosecutes critics failed to prevent the attack despite the U.S. warning.
Citing the treatment of the suspects, Davidis told AP that B次元官网网址渨e can suppose it was deliberately made public in order to show the severity of response of the state.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淧eople are not satisfied with this situation when such a huge number of law enforcement officers didnB次元官网网址檛 manage to prevent such an attack, and they demonstrate the severe reaction in order to stop these accusations against them,B次元官网网址� he said.
The fact that the security forces did not conceal their methods was B次元官网网址渁 bad sign,B次元官网网址� he said.
IS, which fought Russian forces that intervened in the Syrian civil war, has long targeted the country. In a statement posted by the groupB次元官网网址檚 Aamaq news agency, the IS Afghanistan affiliate said it carried out an attack in Krasnogorsk, the suburb of Moscow where the concert hall is located.
In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian passenger plane over Sinai, killing all 224 people aboard, most of them Russian vacationers returning from Egypt.
The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, has claimed responsibility for several attacks in RussiaB次元官网网址檚 volatile Caucasus and other regions in past years. It recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.
READ ALSO:
