The Second Western District Military Court in Russia has sentenced 15 defendants to life imprisonment in the case of the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow. The attack took place in March 2024.
This is reported by the Russian publication “Mediazona”.
According to the publication, four more defendants in the terrorist attack case were sentenced to long terms. The trial was held behind closed doors. The prosecution stopped presenting evidence in December. The stage of the judicial investigation was completed by February 5.
What is known about the shooting at Crocus City Hall?
In Russia, in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, a shooting occurred at the Crocus City Hall concert hall before a concert by the band Picnic on March 22, 2024. A fire also broke out in the building, and the roof collapsed.
At the time of the shooting, there could have been 6,200 spectators in the hall, The Bell reports. That's how many people the concert hall can hold. According to the RedKassa website, all tickets for the concert were sold out. According to the list of the dead, published on the website of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, at least 143 people were killed.
Russia accuses Ukraine of the terrorist attack, but the Ukrainian State Security Service said that the shooting at the Crocus City Hall concert hall was a deliberate provocation by Russian special services on the orders of Russian President Putin. The Foreign Ministry also rejected the accusation.
ISIS militants claimed responsibility for the attack. At the same time, Russian special services did not rule out the possibility that Ukraine or ISIS were involved in the attack.
Russian law enforcement officials said they had arrested 11 people in the case, including four Tajik citizens who, according to investigators, were the direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack. On April 1, four foreigners were allegedly detained in Dagestan for financing and arming terrorists. In total, Russia's Investigative Committee has charged 19 people with the terrorist attack.