Star Metro - Russia to sentence gunmen of 2024 Moscow concert hall attack

The attack on the Crocus City Hall in the suburbs of the Russian capital was the most fatal claimed by the Islamic State (IS) on the European continent.

Prosecutors are seeking life sentences for the four Tajik gunmen and 11 others they say acted as accomplices.

Four more defendants face prison terms of up to 22 years, accused of having terrorist links.

Shamsidin Fariduni, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Makhammadsobir Fayzov and Saidakrami Rachabolizoda entered the giant venue and went on a shooting spree shortly before a concert by the Picnic rock band on March 22, 2024.

They then set fire to the building, trapping many victims. The attack wounded more than 600 people. Six children were among those killed.

The attack came two years into Moscow's war in Ukraine, with Russia -- bogged down by the offensive -- dismissing US warnings of an imminent attack.

The Kremlin had pointed to a Ukrainian trace at the time of the attack, but never provided evidence.

Russia -- already undergoing a conservative social turn during the war -- upped anti-migrant laws and rhetoric after the attack.

This has led to some tensions with Moscow's allies in Central Asia, some of whom have confronted Russia and called on it to respect the rights of their citizens.

- Deadliest attack since Beslan -

The four attackers -- aged 20 to 31 at the time -- were working as a taxi driver, factory worker and in construction.

Hours after the attack, Russia brought them to court with signs of torture -- including one barely conscious in a wheelchair. Social media videos linked to security services showed bloody interrogations.

According to media reports, Mirzoyev's brother was killed fighting in Syria, possibly leading to his radicalisation.

Aside from the four attackers, 15 others accused at the closed-door trial include people who sold them a car and rented one of the gunmen a flat, as well as others accused of having terrorist links.

TASS state news agency reported this month, citing a lawyer, that two of them -- Dzhabrail Aushyev and Khusein Medov -- have asked the court to be sent to fight in Ukraine instead of a life sentence.

Throughout its offensive, Russia has recruited prisoners for its military campaign, offering a buy-out from their sentences should they survive.

According to the lawyer quoted by TASS, Medov said he wanted to "redeem his guilt with blood."

Prosecutors have also demanded that relatives of one of the gunmen be stripped of their Russian citizenship.

Tajikistan's President, Emomali Rakhmon, said at the time of the attack that "terrorists have no nationality".

Russia's economy has for years been heavily reliant on millions of Central Asian migrants.

But their flow to Russia dipped after Moscow launched its Ukraine campaign and some Central Asians also held back from going to Russia after the post-Crocus migrant crackdowns.

Russia -- which fought two wars in Chechnya and in 2015 intervened in the Syrian civil war to prop up government forces -- has been a target for radical Islamists for years.

The Crocus attack was the deadliest in Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege, which claimed the lives of 334 people, mostly children.

L.Girard--SMC