Trial begins for suspects in Moscow concert hall shooting rampage that left 149 dead, over 600 wounded
A faction of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the March 22, 2024, massacre at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in which four gunmen shot people who were waiting for a show by a popular rock band and then set the building on fire.
President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have claimed, without presenting evidence, that Ukraine had a role in the attack.
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4 A trial began Monday under tight security for 19 defendants accused of involvement in last year's shooting rampage in a Moscow concert hall that killed 149 people and wounded over 600.
YURI KOCHETKOV/EPA/Shutterstock
4 The defendants appearing in court on Monday kept their heads bowed as they sat in the defendants' cage.
YURI KOCHETKOV/EPA/Shutterstock
Kyiv has strongly denied any involvement.
The Investigative Committee, Russia's top criminal investigation agency, said in June that it concluded that the attack had been 'planned and carried out in the interests of the current leadership of Ukraine in order to destabilize the political situation in our country.'
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It also noted that the four suspected gunmen tried to flee to Ukraine afterward.
The four, all identified as citizens of Tajikistan, were arrested hours after the attack and later appeared in a Moscow court with signs of being severely beaten.
4 Emergency services vehicles are seen outside the burning Crocus City Hall concert hall following the shooting incident in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, on March 22, 2024.
AFP via Getty Images
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4 Firefighters extinguish a major fire in the Crocus City Hall concert hall following the shooting incident.
AFP via Getty Images
The defendants appearing in court on Monday kept their heads bowed as they sat in the defendants' cage.
The committee said earlier this year that six other suspects were charged in absentia and placed on Russia's wanted list for allegedly recruiting and organizing the training of the four.
Other defendants in the trial were accused of helping them.
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