MOSCOW/DUSHANBE (Reuters) -
Russia remanded in custody on Tuesday a Kyrgyzstan-born man suspected of
involvement in Friday's mass shooting at a Moscow concert hall, and sent
investigators to Tajikistan to question the families of four men charged with
carrying out the attack.
Eight suspects have now been
remanded in pre-trial detention since gunmen sprayed concertgoers with bullets
in the deadliest attack in Russia in two decades, days after President Vladimir
Putin celebrated an election that handed him a fifth term.
Islamic State has claimed
responsibility and released footage from the attack. The United States and
France say intelligence suggests the group was indeed behind the attack, in
which 139 people were killed and 182 wounded.
Putin said on Monday the attack
had been carried out by Islamic militants but also suggested that Ukraine,
which is at war with Russia, may have played a role. Ukraine has denied any
role.
Russia has said the four
suspected gunmen have confessed, but some showed signs of injuries when they
appeared in court, raising concern they had been tortured.
Russia's commissioner for human
rights said detention of suspects should be carried out in accordance with the
law, TASS news agency reported, after videos were published showing the
interrogation of the suspects. One had part of his ear cut off during
questioning.
"It is absolutely
unacceptable to use torture on detainees and defendants," the
commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, was quoted as saying by TASS.
Russian authorities have said
they are investigating.
SPOTLIGHT ON CENTRAL ASIA
The arrests have cast a spotlight
on two mainly Muslim former Soviet republics in central Asia that have close
ties with Moscow and depend on remittances from migrant labourers working in
Russia.
Three Tajik sources told Reuters
on Tuesday that Russian investigators were in Tajikistan questioning the
families of the four suspected gunmen, saying their relatives had been brought
to the capital Dushanbe from their home towns.
On Tuesday, Putin said he hoped
prosecutors would do everything to ensure the attackers would be justly
punished.
Kyrgyzstan-born Alisher Kasimov,
remanded in custody on Tuesday, was led into the court room bent double - like
the other suspects - before his handcuffs were removed. He showed no visible
signs of injury.
He is accused of providing
accommodation to the four Tajik men accused of carrying out the attack.
The Tajik sources said Tajik
President Emomali Rakhmon was personally overseeing the Tajik part of the
investigation into the Moscow attack, which he said was a "terrible and
shameful event".
Russian investigators say that
after firing from Kalashnikov AK-47 weapons, the attackers set fire to the
building with gasoline before leaving, hitting a family with two young children
as they sped out of the car park.
Earlier this month, Rakhmon said
his government was alarmed by the activity of radical Islamist preachers who
were "brainwashing" Tajik youths, making them susceptible to
manipulation by foreign groups and intelligence agencies.
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