The sole known survivor from the militant group whose raid on a school in southern Russia last September left more than 330 hostages dead has gone on trial.
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| A distraught volunteer carries a child from the school in Beslan. Russian special forces stormed the building after hostage-takers fired on fleeing children. |
Nur-Pashi Kulayev, who faces terrorism, murder and other charges, reportedly has confessed to participating in the September 1st-3rd raid on School No. 1 but has insisted that he killed no one.
The seizure ended in mayhem when explosions went off, police waged pitched gun battles with militants and terrified children fled through bullets and burning buildings. More than half of those killed were children.
Outside the Supreme Court of the North Ossetian republic, where Beslan is located, policemen stood armed with automatic rifles, and dozens more security officers were deployed nearby.
The roads surrounding the courthouse were blocked to traffic, and a fire truck was parked outside the court building.
Kulayev was delivered to the court about an hour before the scheduled start of the hearings. He was driven in a police convoy straight into a closed courtyard, out of view of dozens of people standing outside the courthouse. Many held pictures of young children and adults who died in the tragedy.
Kulayev was brought handcuffed into a courtroom by six guards and placed in a cage. A single defence lawyer is representing him.
If convicted, Kulayev could get life in prison. Survivors of the attack and others have called for the death penalty, but Russia imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in 1996 to join the Council of Europe.
AP