The Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office demands prison terms ranging from 7½ to 15 years for five foreigners who, according to authorities, had contact with the suspected perpetrators of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall concert venue, Russia’s RBC reports, citing Turkiye’s Anadolu Agency (AA).
The defendants' names are Hofizjon Usmonov, Mutialloh Asoyev, Rahmatullo Salikov, Muhammadrahim Fayzov, and Hamza Muhammad, as reported by RBC, citing a Turkish publication.
Usmonov, Asoyev, and Salikov were reportedly detained on March 24, 2024, while attempting to travel to Iran by bus. Fayzov and his family were arrested on March 28.
The indictment states that Fayzov and Usmonov had spent time in safe houses with one of the direct perpetrators of the attack, Faridun Shamsiddin, in Istanbul's Avcılar and Esenyurt districts.
RBC notes that Anadolu published excerpts from Asoyev’s correspondence with one of the attack’s perpetrators. The dialogue reads as follows:
"Hello, you have an assignment."
"Hi, what’s the mission?"
"You will plant a bomb in the Vegas shopping center. We will provide all the ammunition. The reward for the mission is 800,000 rubles."
"What happens after the mission?"
"100,000 upfront, 700,000 upon completion."
"No, I’m scared; they’ll catch and kill me."
"No, our person will extract you after planting the bombs. He will take you to the Belarusian border, where we will provide you with a new identity, a house, and a plan of action."
The Turkish prosecutor’s office ultimately demanded that the defendants be sentenced to 7½ to 15 years in prison on charges of “membership in an armed terrorist organization.”
On March 22, 2024, a coordinated terrorist attack against civilians occurred at the Crocus City Hall music venue in Crocus City, Krasnogorsk, Moscow oblast. The attack began at around 20:00 Moscow time, shortly before the Russian band Picnic was scheduled to play a sold-out show at the venue. Four terrorists associated with Islamic State – Khorasan Province (IS–KP or ISIS-K) carried out a mass shooting, as well as slashing attacks on the people gathered at the venue, and used incendiary devices to set the venue on fire. Investigators said 145 people had been killed (including those who died later in hospital), and more than 551 concertgoers injured by gunfire or suffering from burns. On 28 March, Russian authorities also claimed that a further 95 people were missing.
