RUSSIA: A Russian court has beguhearing a series of unprecendented lawsuits by victims of the theatre hostage-taking, seeking millions of dollars for emotional and physical suffering from the Moscow government.
Dozens of people who were either in the theatre or lost family when Chechen rebels spectacularly held some 800 people hostage for three days in October have filed a total of 61 suits against the city of Moscow, seeking nearly $60 million (€57 million) in damages.
Representing the plaintiffs, lawyer Mr Igor Trunov yesterday filed the suits under Russia's anti-terrorism law, which he says holds local authorities where a terrorist act took place.
The office of Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, which handed out between 50,000 to 100,000 rubles (about $1,500 to $3,000) to victims of the hostage-taking, has rejected the lawsuits, saying the Chechen war does not fall under its jurisdiction.
Rebels stormed the theatre in the middle of a musical performance on October 23rd, denying the hostages toilet facilities and food, and threatening executions if the Kremlin did not agree to end the war in Chechnya and pull out its troops.
Yet nearly all of the 129 hostages who died in the siege were killed by a powerful gas that Russian special forces pumped into the theatre to subdue the hostage-takers before a pre-dawn raid ordered by President Vladimir Putin.
Around 30 people who brought the first batch of 24 suits sat quietly in the cramped Moscow courtroom as the hearings began.
At the outset, Mr Trunov lashed out at the court for refusing to allow journalists in the courtroom and argued that a larger venue was needed to ensure that observers are present during the proceedings.
Mr Trunov also accused the panel of judges of lacking impartiality, saying they were in the pocket of the Moscow city government and had accepted "presents" such as free telephones and apartments from city officials.
"This is not an independent court," he charged.
Judge Marina Gorbacheva refused Mr Trunov's request to transfer the suits to a new tribunal, but said that future hearings would be held in a larger courtroom, Interfax news agency reported.
The proceedings have been long in the works as the first hostage filed suit in late November, with several pre-trial hearings and postponements.
Mr Trunov indicated that the lawsuits could turn into a drawn-out affair. "Of course nothing will be finished today - the question is if it will even begin," he said.
The suits, seeking an enormous sum by Russian standards, could have major implications in a country where rebel attacks have killed or wounded scores of victims in recent years.
The hostage-taking at a central Moscow theatre was one of the most brazen acts ever committed by Chechen separatists, and thrust the protracted war in their breakaway republic into the spotlight.
On Friday, the court is set to hear two separate groups of suits, one comprising 12 suits and a second comprising nine. Mr Trunov said he has asked the court to hear all the suits in one class action-style hearing. The court accepted yesterday to hear 12 more lawsuits seeking $11.5 million in damages, RIA Novosti news agency reported, and a decision on four others was pending.