Unverified video of violent interrogations of suspects in the Moscow concert hall attack has emerged after four suspects who were badly beaten appeared in court.
A video circulating on social media appeared to show one of the men having part of his ear cut off and stuffed into his mouth, Reuters reported.
Four of the alleged gunmen, one of whom was nearly unconscious, were remanded in custody after appearing in Moscow’s Basman District Court on Sunday.
The gang, who reportedly suffered facial injuries and bruising during interrogation, have been charged with terrorism in the attack on Crocus City Hall on Friday that killed at least 137 people and injured 182 others. The offense carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
A court statement said two of the suspects admitted guilt in the attack, while conflicting reports in Russian media said three or all four suspects had pleaded guilty.
All four are said to be citizens of Tajikistan and will be detained until May 22, pending investigation and trial.
Russian authorities named the men as 32-year-old Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 30-year-old Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, 25-year-old Shamsidin Fariduni and 19-year-old Muhammadsobir Fayzov.
Mirzoyev leaned against a glass cage in the courtroom as the terrorism charges were read.
Ratchabalizoda sat in court with a bandage on her right ear and a swollen and bruised right eye.
Feizov emerged in a medical wheelchair, wearing a gaping hospital gown, his face covered in cuts and apparently missing an eye. He was attended by medical staff during his court appearance.
Fariduni stood in court with his face badly bruised.
Images emerged earlier showing the suspect being dragged into the headquarters of Russia’s Investigative Committee of the Federation (ICRF).
Russian media reported that the men were tortured during interrogations by security services and that at least one of them was given electric shocks.
Video footage posted by Russian media and Telegram channels close to the Kremlin appeared to show one of the suspects saying he had been offered money to carry out the attack.
“I shot people,” the suspect said in broken Russian, his hands tied, his hair grabbed by the interrogator and a black boot worn under his chin.
Asked why, he said: “For money.” The man said he was promised half a million rubles.
Gunmen stormed the Krokus Town Hall Concert Hall on Friday, opening fire on innocent concertgoers as Soviet-era rock band Picnic were about to perform their hit song “Fearless.” The attackers then set fire to the venue.
It was the deadliest attack on Russian soil since the 2004 Beslan school siege.
Russian authorities said 11 people, including four gunmen, had been detained after they fled the concert hall and headed for the Bryansk region, about 210 miles southwest of Moscow.
The so-called Islamic State (IS) terror group claimed responsibility for the attack and posted a video apparently showing the incident on its Telegram channel on Saturday. A close-up of the one-minute, 31-second video shows a gunman shooting several people as he enters what appears to be a concert hall.
Moscow suggested Ukrainian involvement in the attack.
Vladimir Putin called it a “bloody, barbaric act of terror” and said Russian authorities captured the four suspects as they tried to escape to Ukraine through a “window” prepared for them.
He said some on the “Ukrainian side” were ready to take the gunman across the border.
U.S. officials said on Friday that the United States had intelligence confirming the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility.
Russia has been helping the Syrian government fight Islamic State and has angered the group by forging ties with the Afghan Taliban.
But Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova cast doubt on U.S. claims that Islamic State, which once sought to control large swaths of Iraq and Syria, was behind the attack.
she wrote in a newspaper article komsomolskaya pravda: “Attention – Question to the White House: Are you sure it’s ISIS? Can you think again?”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin was trying to deflect blame for the concert hall attack by mentioning Ukraine. The Russian president ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which he described as a special military operation needed to protect Russia.
Russian Security Council Vice-President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that those who planned the attack should be hunted down and killed.
He wrote on Telegram: “We will avenge everyone [of those killed and wounded].
“Those involved, regardless of their country of origin and identity, are now our primary legitimate targets.”
Sunday was declared a day of national mourning in Russia for the victims of the concert hall attack, with flags flying at half-mast at the 6,200-seat concert hall outside Moscow and people lining up to lay flowers. Billboards across the city bore an image of a candle, the date of the attack and the words “We mourn.”
Pope Francis on Sunday condemned a shooting attack at a concert hall near Moscow, calling it a “despicable” act that offended God and said his thoughts were with the victims.
“I pray for the victims of the terrorist attacks in Moscow, that the Lord may receive them in peace, comfort their families, and change the hearts of those… who committed these inhumane acts that offend God,” the Pope said. He said this in St. Peter’s Square after Mass on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the French government raised its terror alert to the highest level on Sunday night following the attack in Moscow.
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