A Moscow court arrested another suspect as an accomplice in the attack by gunmen on a Moscow suburb concert hall who killed 144 people in March, the Telegram channel of the Moscow City Courts announced on Saturday.
Dzhumokhon Kurbonov, a Tajik citizen, is accused of providing the attackers with means of communication and financing. The judge of Moscow’s Basmanny District Court ruled that Kurbonov would be kept in detention until May 22, pending investigation and trial.
Russia’s official RIA Novosti news agency said Kurbonov was allegedly detained on April 11 for 15 days on administrative charges of petty hooliganism. Independent Russian media outlet Mediazona pointed out that it is a common practice used by Russian security forces to keep a person in custody while a criminal case is prepared against them.
Four armed men allegedly committed the attack, shooting into the crowd at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, according to a previous CBS News report. Some spectators were shot at point blank range. Hundreds of people were injured and the attackers also set fire to the concert hall, connected to a shopping center, causing the building’s roof to partially collapse.
“The shooting was constant,” eyewitness Dave Primov told CBS News. “People panicked and started running. Some fell and were trampled.”
Twelve defendants have been arrested in this case, including the four alleged perpetrators of the attack. These four people appeared before the same Moscow court at the end of March on charges of terrorism and showed signs of violent blows. One of them appeared barely conscious during the hearing. The court ordered that the men, all identified in media reports as citizens of Tajikistan, also be held in detention until May 22.
A faction of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the massacre, but Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have consistently claimed, without presenting evidence, that Ukraine And the west played a role in the attack.
Ukraine denies any involvement and its officials say Moscow is using the allegations as a pretext to intensify its fighting in Ukraine.
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