23:15, 11 December 2006

Most of Beslan victims did not appeal against Kulaev's verdict

Teimuraz Chedzhemov, advocate for the victims of Beslan school seizure in September 2004, has stated that most of his clients find the sentence to Nurpashi Kulaev to be just and fair. "We think that the verdict passed to Nurpashi Kulaev is fair, and did not lodge any appeals against it. The Supreme Court of Russia will consider possible cancellation and revision of the verdict only on petition of some of the victims and Kulaev himself," Mr. Chedzhemov declared on Monday.

"A different matter is that we doubt the judgement on innocence of the head of the Operations Headquarters during the Beslan act of terror, and the court has already cancelled, after our petition, the conclusions of situational examination of the actions of the Headquarters' head," the advocate has told the "Interfax."

Late in May 2006, the Supreme Court of North Ossetia sentenced Kulaev to life imprisonment.