[Borneo Post] A Russian court on Tuesday convicted 57 people, sentencing five of them to life imprisonment, after a decade-long trial over an armed raid on the North Caucasian city of Nalchik.The October 2005 attack saw scores of armed men swarm the city, raiding several security offices, arms shops and other buildings. Fifty people died, including 35 policemen, and more than 200 were wounded. Following the attack several suspected perpetrators, including Chechen insurgent Shamil Basayev, were killed in various security operations.
Investigators said that the assailants "planned to create an Islamic state" in the Caucasus region through terrorism and used a wide range of weapons, ranging from Kalashnikov rifles to shoulder-fired missiles.
The Investigative Committee said the regional supreme court convicted all 57 defendants of various charges, giving them sentences ranging from 4 to 23 years. Five were sentenced to life in prison. Among the charges were terrorism, illegal arms possession, murder and armed rebellion.
The case lasted so long that three people were freed after the verdict because their pre-trial detention had already exceeded the length of their sentences. So many suspects had been detained that local authorities built a separate building to house them, and rights organisations objected to the group trial after it was clear that some of the defendants were not involved.