Vladikavkaz (AsiaNews) North Ossetia's Supreme Court said Nurpashi Kulayev, the only Chechen terrorist who survived the attack against School Nº 1 in Beslan, deserved the death penalty, but sentenced him to life in prison because of a moratorium on capital punishment that Russia introduced in 1997 in order to join the Council of Europe.
Mothers of the victims, wearing mourning black, crowded the courtroom waiting to hear the sentence. Some held banners reading: 'There is no forgiveness for the authorities who let Beslan happen'. Some tried to attack the prisoner and meet out their own justice as he was led out of the courtroom.
The court said Kulayev "deserves the death penalty" after finding him guilty on all charges, including terrorism, banditry, hostage taking, murder and illegal storage, possession and acquisition of weapons.
Deputy Prosecutor-General Nikolai Shepel, who had called for the death penalty, said he was satisfied with the verdict which came a year after the trial began.
Kulayev was the only survivor from a group of 32 Chechen separatists who held more than 1,000 children, parents and teachers hostage in School Nº 1 from September 1 to 3, 2004, in Beslan, 20 kilometres from Vladikavkaz.
The hostage-taking operation ended in tragedy with the death of more than 330 people, including 186 children.
In his final statement before the court, the 25-year-old Chechen carpenter had proclaimed his innocence: "I would like to give my condolences to everyone who lost their family members. I lost relatives myself for eight years. But I am not guilty."
Relatives of the victims continue to demand that light be shed on the government's and the security forces' role in the hostage-taking incident and its tragic denouement.
The 'Beslan Mothers Committee' has always insisted on the death penalty for the terrorist even though it has said that his trial was a farce.
The mothers want to see the inquiry reopened and have demanded that officials in charge of the botched rescue operation be found guilty.