European court faults Russians in deadly 2004 siege

LONDON — Russian authorities ignored warnings of an impending terrorist attack and then violated European human rights law when they stormed a school seized by Chechen militants in September 2004, resulting in the deaths of more than 330 hostages, a court ruled Thursday.

The ruling, by the European Court of Human Rights in a case brought by relatives of the victims, amounted to a stinging critique of how President Vladimir Putin’s government handled the crisis.

The court found that the authorities had received “sufficiently specific information of a planned terrorist attack in the area, linked to an educational institution,” but that they had not done enough to disrupt the plot, prevent the attackers from traveling on the day of the attack, protect the school or notify the public of the threat.

The Kremlin immediately rejected the findings. “It’s impossible for us, a country that has been repeatedly attacked by terrorists, to agree with such wording,” said the government’s top spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov.

The school siege, in the town of Beslan in North Ossetia, a part of the North Caucasus region in Russia, began around 9 a.m. Sept. 1, 2004 — the first day of school — when more than 30 militants stormed School No. 1, taking more than 1,100 hostages, including more than 770 children. The militants were followers of Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev.

The Beslan siege stretched across three days. It ended around 1 p.m. Sept. 3, when two powerful explosions were set off in the gymnasium, blasting a hole in the wall through which several hostages tried to escape. Militants fired on them before exchanging gunfire with security forces, who were then ordered to storm the building.

In all, more than 330 people were killed — including 12 members of the security forces — and hundreds of others were wounded. One militant was captured, and the rest were killed.

The court ordered Russia to pay 2.955 million euros (about $3.14 million) in damages and 88,000 euros in legal costs. The named plaintiff in the case is Emma Tagayeva, who lost two sons and her husband in the massacre.

In a statement, the Justice Ministry said it would appeal.

AP Russia failed to adequately protect victims of a 2004 school siege that left more than 300 people dead, a court found Thursday.