Moscow Suspects Appear In Court With Visible Injuries

Four men charged over concert hall attack as videos on social media apparently show them being beaten by security forces

- CHRIS STEVENSON TOM WATLING

Footage that appears to show the torture of suspects in the Moscow concert hall attack during which more than 130 people were killed is circulating in Russia, although the Kremlin is refusing to answer questions about the videos. A total of 97 people remain in hospital, officials said.

One of the films appears to show security forces cutting off the ear of one of the suspects and trying to feed it to him, while another shows a man apparently being subjected to electric shocks to his groin. A third shows security forces beating a man with their rifle butts and kicking him as he lies in the snow. Isis has claimed the attack, and has released graphic video footage of the attackers firing on the crowd inside the concert hall.

Four men appeared in court over the weekend and were charged in relation to the attack. They appeared to have been beaten, and one of the suspects had heavy bandaging to his right ear. Another had to be brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair.

The four suspects were named by Russian authorities as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, 30, Shamsidin Fariduni, 25, and Muhammadsobir Fayzov, 19. The men the court identified during the proceedings as Mr Mirzoyev and Mr Rachabalizoda both had black eyes. Mr Rachabalizoda appeared with the bandage on his right ear. The face of the man identified as Mr Fariduni was badly swollen.

Mr Fariduni said in an interrogation video published on social media that he had arrived from Turkey on 4 March. He was trembling while being questioned by the side of a road, with his hands tied behind his back. He said that he had “shot people” in Crocus City Hall “for money”, having been offered 500,000 roubles (£4,300) by a person he did not identify.