Nur-Pashi Kulayev
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A native of Engenoi, Chechnya, Nur-Pashi Kulayev is thought to be the sole survivor of the 32 hostage-takers in the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis, although Shamil Basayev denies the claim, stating that one other escaped[link]
24, and an unemployed carpenter at the time of the attack, his brother Hanpashi had formerly served as bodyguard for Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev. In the aftermath of the Beslan school hostage crisis, Nur-Pashi attempted to escape by disguising himself as a hostage and hiding under an OMON truck. One of the local residents noticed him, at which point he was pulled out from beneath the truck and almost lynched by an angry mob before being rescued by Russian special forces.
Nur-Pashi's Brother
An avid scholar of the Koran, Han-Pashi (also known as 'Khan') was the elder of Nur-Pashi's two brothers. He was drafted into the Russian Army in 1991 and served the standard 2-year term. Han-pashi fought in the First Chechen War on the side of the Chechen rebels. During the Second Chechen War, Hanpashi once again joined the ranks of the Chechen militants. In August 2001, he was shot in his right arm during a confrontation at an army checkpoint, and claims to have been tortured afterwards. The gunshot wound required his arm to be amputated. He was convicted of being a member of the Chechen militants, but was granted amnesty on December 18, 2001 - after which he moved into an Ingush apartment with Nur-Pashi. It has been suggested that Han-Pashi was still distraught and suicidal over the loss of his arm, and so joined ranks with those planning to assault Beslan, where he was armed with a pistol. It is claimed that Nur-Pashi then tagged along to act as a bodyguard for his brother.Siege
During the tumultuous ten hours of fighting between the gunmen and Russian forces, Nur-Pashi reportedly saved the life of a young Alana Zandrovna, whose mother had left on the second day with her nursing son, after she was caught in the burning gym.[link]Interrogations
Clips of his interrogation have been shown by the Russian Channel One, in which he states that the hostage-taking was masterminded by Shamil Basayev and Aslan Maskhadov. He further claimed that while he was among the hostage-takers, he didn't kill any of the victims himself, firing his gun only into the air during the confusion.He identified a short red-bearded corpse as the Chechnya-born militant nicknamed Polkovnik (Colonel), whom later Russian investigation claimed was 32-year old Ruslan Tagirovich Khochubarov from the village of Galashki. A tape reportedly released by Shamil Basayev contradicted this claim, stating that Polkovnik was a colonel of the Ichkeria forces.
According to his account, 10 of the 32 hostage-takers were foreigners, including a tall black and a Korean.
Trial and Sentencing
Kulayev's trial began in Vladikavkaz on May 1st 2005 with prosecutors Gnl Nikolai Shepel and Maria Semisynova seeking life imprisonment on charges of terrorism, murder and hostage-taking on behalf of 1343 plaintiffs. The trial judge is Tamerlan Aguzarov, and Kulayev is defended by Umar Sikoyev and Albert Pliyev, the latter of which had only practised law for 2 weeks prior to being appointed by the state.His defence lies in the claim that he was one of the recruited Chechens who were told they would be attacking a military checkpoint, and had no foreknowledge their target was the Beslan school; he was reportedly among several of the militants who argued in favour of capturing the local Beslan police station instead. While no witnesses have claimed he shot any of the victims, several have testified that he ran around the gymnasium shouting curses and threatening to shoot various hostages with his assault rifle - though Kulayev testifies that he was only given the firearm to carry because his leaders didn't want any of their weapons left lying around where hostages could seize them.
Nur-Pashi has testified that Polkovnik smashed his cellphone in rage, stating that Russian forces were unwilling to negotiate, and that the bloodbath started when Russian snipers killed two hostage-takers that were carrying detonators for the explosives strung around the gymnasium. Polkovnik then killed three of the militants including the two female suicide bombers who had objected to the scholastic target, detonating their bombs. Nur-Pashi was supposed to be shot himself, by his brother Hanpashi on orders from Polkovnik, but Hanpashi refused.
His long hair was found unsettling by several of the plaintiffs on the opening day of the trial, and was shaved the following day. Surprisingly, a group of victims' families called Beslan Mothers' Committee led by Susanna Dudiyeva, has shown sympathy for Kulayev promising to seek an appeal on his behalf given his honesty and cooperation during the trial, one went so far as to pledge to send any compensation money she received to Kulayev's children - though there is otherwise no mention of his having children. The Sydney Morning Herald has been criticized however for titling Kulayev the Timid Guerilla and referring to him as more sheepish than sinister[link].
On September 29, 2005, the Beslan Mothers' Committee called for the chief prosecuter Nikolai Shepel to be replaced for incompetence and claims of merely acting out a scripted prosecution without calling high-ranking Russian officials to testify. On October 4th, the Supreme Court of North Ossetia announced that Shepel would not be replaced, in a disputed ruling.[link] About a month later, the Beslan Mother's Committee spawned a new group dubbed the Voice of Beslan, which was considered more radical than the former, and courted many of the husbands.[link]
On December 16, 2005 Valery Andreyev, chief of the North Ossetian Federal Security Service at the time of the hostage-taking, testified that he had personally given the order to overrun the school during the siege.
Four days later it was announced that Alexander Dzasokhov, the former leader of North Ossetia, would testify at Kulayev's trial. His presence was demanded by the Beslan Mothers' Committee
On February 16th 2006, the trial concluded pending a verdict due July 1st. The Beslan Mothers' Committee reportedly requested the death penalty for Kulayev[link] while the Voice of Beslan lobbied against it.[link]
On May 16 2006, the reading of the verdict began. While it will take several days to read through the verdict, most seem to agree that it points towards a finding of "Guilty" on charges of committing an act of terroism, and murder. [link]
On May 26 2006, Nur-Pashi Kulayev was jailed for life, prompting a mixed reaction from members of the public and victims families. While a large number feel that justice has been done, many (including victims relatives) still question how so many armed militants could get through such a large number of checkpoints and take over an entire school. They believe that Kulayev has been made a scapegoat in order to hide negligence by officials, and have stated that they will continue to search for the truth. Kulayev maintains he participated in the siege, but denies killing anyone. It is understood that he will not appeal the verdict.[link]
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