Russia Charges 3 in Twin Plane Bombings
.c The Associated Press
MOSCOW (AP) – Prosecutors charged three people Friday in connection
with last month’s bombings of two Russian airliners, the Interfax news
agency reported.
The two planes blew up almost simultaneously on the night of Aug. 24,
killing 90 people.
It was the start of a series of deadly terrorist attacks blamed on
Chechen rebels that killed nearly 440 people, including the school
siege in the southern city of Beslan.
Police Capt. Mikhail Artamonov, arrested earlier this month, was
charged with negligence that led to fatalities, Interfax said, quoting
prosecutors. Artamonov is accused of releasing the two women
suspected of carrying bombs onto the planes without inspecting their
belongings.
Two patrolmen had turned the women over to him, presumably because of
their Chechen ethnicity, which often results in extra police checks.
After being let go, the women allegedly obtained tickets from a ticket
scalper at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, Prosecutor General Vladimir
Ustinov said earlier this month. The scalper then gave part of the
money he received from the women – equivalent to $34 – to an airline
employee to get them on the planes, Ustinov said.
The airline employee, Nikolai Korenkov, and the ticket scalper, Armen
Arutyunian, were arrested earlier this month. Both were charged Friday
with complicity in terrorism, Interfax said.
09/24/04 15:34 EDT