Beslan school siege captive goes on trial

MOSCOW - The only Chechen militant to have been captured alive after last September's Beslan school siege went on trial yesterday amid calls from bereaved locals that he be handed over to face "real justice."

Nur-Pashi Kulayev, a 24-year old Chechen carpenter, is charged with nine criminal offences including murder, terrorism and banditry, and is being tried in Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia where Beslan is located.

In theory he could be executed if found guilty which appears to be a formality but Russia has placed a moratorium on the death penalty in order to remain a member of the Council of Europe. He therefore faces life in prison.

Three hundred and thirty people, over half of them children, died last September when 32 Chechen militants seized Beslan's School Number One and demanded that Russian federal forces withdraw from the independence-minded republic.

The other 31 either blew themselves up or were killed by Russian special forces or a furious mob but Kulayev hid under a nearby truck before he too fell into locals' hands.

He was prised from their clutches, with some difficulty, before he could be lynched and has since been thoroughly interrogated by Russia's FSB security service.

Kulayev, whose brother was among the hostage-takers and killed, admits he was part of the group but says he "personally" didn't murder anyone. Instead he claims he merely fired his gun into the air and did not know the target was a school.

He contends that the original plan had been to seize a Russian army sentry post, a claim dismissed as nonsense by the prosecution.

The case is being prosecuted by Nikolai Shepel, Russia's Deputy Prosecutor General, and is expected to last for several months.

Kulayev, a gaunt slight man dressed in black, sat in the defendant's cage in court yesterday looking nervous. Married with two small children, he listened as the court heard that the act of terror was planned by Chechnya's most notorious rebel warlord -- Shamil Basayev -- as well as the now deceased rebel Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov and a Saudi national called Taufik al-Jadani.

In the public gallery around 30 bereaved mothers dressed in black, their heads wrapped in traditional headscarves, looked on in disgust regularly wiping tears from their eyes.

Outside the courtroom Liza Matzgoyeva, 75, who lost her 34-year old son, said she wanted a good look at Kulayev. "I want to look him in the face," she said. "I want to see his face, look into it and see if he's human or not."

As a handcuffed Kulayev was led into court one woman hissed: "Hand him over here and give us a gun."

Many said they thought that existing legislation was inadequate and that Kulayev should face a "people's court." Security was tight with many locals still angry that the republic's president, Alexander Dzasokhov, remains in power despite calls for his resignation over allegations that he was incompetent during the siege.

Every lawyer asked to represent Kulayev refused, forcing the court to appoint one.

- INDEPENDENT