Torture for terrors
Russia beats, cuts, jolts ‘ISIS killers’: video
Harrowing footage appears to show Russian forces torturing suspects in the Moscow concert hall terror attack — with one fed his own ear and another writhing in agony from electric shocks to his genitals — as US senators warn ISIS-K could target Americans.
Footage circulated online appears to show members of the security forces cutting off the ear of one of the suspects in the attack that killed more than 130 people — and then stuffing it in his mouth, according to The Guardian.
One of the suspects was later seen in court with a huge bandage covering his ear area.
Another clip appears to show security forces beating suspects with rifle butts and kicking one as he lay in the snow.
Photographs posted on Telegram also apparently show one of the suspected terrorists with his pants down and a wire attached to his groin, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
The wire delivered 80 volts of electricity to the man’s genital area as water was poured on the suspect’s head to intensify the effects, according to a description provided by the Grey Zone Telegram Channel.
Appearance in court
Some of the suspects were seen in a Russian court Sunday with clear signs of injury, including swollen faces, cuts and bruises.
Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, was brought into the courthouse in a wheelchair, still wearing a hospital gown. He seemed barely conscious during the proceeding, during which medics were attending to him.
Another suspect, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30, had a bandage around his ear — while a third, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32, entered the courthouse with a blindfold, which authorities removed, revealing a black eye.
A court statement said Mirzoyev and Rachabalizoda pleaded guilty to participating in the attack.
Faizov, Rachabalizoda, Mirzoyev and Shamsidin Faridun, 25, were arrested Saturday and charged with committing a group terrorist attack, according to The Guardian.
The men were caught while attempting to flee into a nearby forest in the southern Bryansk region, Russian officials said.
Seven others were also detained on suspicion of involvement in the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin said over the weekend.
The Islamic State-Khorasanm also known as ISIS-K, took responsibility for the attack, sharing video of gunmen in military uniforms shooting at screaming civilians with automatic weapons as others ducked for cover at the Crocus City Hall, where Russian rock band Picnic was about to take the stage for a sold-out show.
Reality check
On Monday, Putin finally acknowledged that the massacre was carried out by Islamic terrorists after trying to tie the attack to Ukraine over the weekend.
“We know that the crime was carried out by the hand of radical Islamists with an ideology that the Muslim world has fought for centuries,” Putin said in remarks posted on Telegram, without directly mentioning ISIS.
Meanwhile, Republican senators said they were worried the terror group could target Americans.
“I think common sense tells you if they run a trafficking network of people they would most certainly use it to move operatives into the United States,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told ABC’s “This Week.”
Rubio, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, added, “I’m not claiming there’s an imminent threat to the US, but I am saying that the border situation and the existence of that network is a threat to the United States. If they could do what they did in Moscow in the United States, they would do it in a heartbeat.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) feared for US citizens living overseas.
“We have millions of Americans who live or travel abroad . . . so I’m deeply worried that ISIS from Afghanistan will end up targeting Americans sooner rather than later,” he told Fox News on Sunday.
The four suspects, all of whom are citizens of Tajikistan, face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. They were ordered Sunday to be held in pretrial custody until May 22.