An eighth of the 11 suspects was placed in pre-trial detention this Tuesday after the attack perpetrated Friday against the Crocus City Hall, a concert hall in the suburbs of Moscow (Russia). Claimed by the Islamic State group, the attack left at least 139 dead and 182 injured, according to a latest report from the Russian authorities. Russia opened an investigation for a “terrorist act” and the 11 arrests, according to the Investigative Committee, took place in the Bryansk region, bordering Ukraine and Belarus.
With blistered, swollen faces, the four alleged attackers have already been taken to the Basmanny court in Moscow, where two of them admitted being guilty. 20 minutes takes stock of the identity of these five suspects placed in detention and who face life imprisonment. According to the official Russian news agency TASStheir names are Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Rachabalizodu, Shamsidin Fariduni and Muhammadsobir Fayzov.
Dalerdjon (Dalerdzhon) Barotovich Mirzoyev
Dalerjon Barotovich Mirzoyev, who can be seen with a blistered face and a torn plastic bag around his neck, is seen as the leader of the attackers by the Russian press. The 32-year-old man, of Tajik nationality, is a former taxi driver. Married and father of four children, he is, according to Russian media, one of the two suspects who has “fully admitted his guilt”.
Muhammadsobir Fayzov
Muhammadsobir Fayzov, 19, appeared unconscious in a hospital gown in a wheelchair at Moscow’s Basmanny Court. According to Russian news agency Ria Novosti, the former hairdresser at a salon in Ivanovo, northeast of Moscow, is apparently the suspect who filmed the attack at Crocus City Hall.
Saidakrami Rachabalizodu
The one seen with a thick bandage on his right ear, suspected of having had it cut off, is called Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizodu. A video, posted on the Internet and whose authenticity has not been confirmed, appears to show this suspect having his ear cut off. The security forces then allegedly forced him to eat it. According to the Russian Investigative Committee, the man, who speaks Tajik but understands Russian, arrived in Istanbul on January 5. He immediately checked into a hotel in the Fatih district, which he left on January 21. Married and unemployed, he is said to have traveled freely between Russia and Turkey, which he left by plane on March 2 to return to Russia with another arrested suspect: Shamsidin Fariduni.
Shamsidin Fariduni
Shamsidin Fariduni, 25, arrived in Istanbul on February 20. Like Rachabalizodu, he reportedly traveled freely between Russia and Turkey, which he left by plane on March 2 to return to Russia. In the videos published by the public channel Pervy Kanal, this married man and father of an 8-month-old child allegedly admitted to having participated in the attack for 500,000 rubles (around 5,500 euros). “We believe that these two individuals were radicalized in Russia given their short stay in Turkey,” according to Turkey, where the authorities announced this Tuesday 147 arrests linked to ISIS. “The two individuals were free to move without hindrance between Russia and Turkey in the absence of an arrest warrant against them,” said a Turkish official on condition of anonymity.
In the videos of his interrogation, Shamsidin Fariduni, who speaks Russian, confided that he had been contacted by Telegram to carry out the attack in Moscow, without revealing the identity of the sponsor(s).
Alisher Kasimov
The eighth suspect apprehended and placed in pre-trial detention this Tuesday is Alisher Kasimov. According to the Interfax agency, he is 31 years old and of Russian nationality. The man said he did not know the others accused in the Moscow attack.
“A Moscow court has placed under arrest another participant in the terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall,” announced the judicial authorities without detailing what this individual is accused of. According to them, he is a national of Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian country neighboring Tajikistan, where the four alleged attackers came from, according to Russian state media.