TVER, January 24 (Itar-Tass) — The prosecutor for the state demand life imprisonment for four of the ten persons accused within the case over blasting the Nevsky Express train in November 2009, and 15 years for the remaining defendants.
During a hearing at the Tver regional court on Tuesday, the prosecutor stated that defendant Aushev and nine Kartoyev brothers had joined an illegal paramilitary formation which was part of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization. They illegally kept firearms, ammunition and explosives. They were also members of the gang set up by Alexander Tikhomirov, also known as Said Buryatsky.
The criminal case against Said Buryatsky had been dropped in connection with his death.
It was Tikhomirov who planned the blasting of Nevsky Express. He had issued instructions to gang members, including those who are in the pensioner's dock now, to purchase weapons, ammunition and explosives, and to store them, hand over or carry.
On November 22, 2009, the defendants arrived at a location near the Tver region village of Lykoshino, Bologoye district. They planted two homemade bombs on railway tracks at the 284th kilometer of the Oktyabrskaya Railway.
The explosion occurred at around 21:00, Moscow time, on November 27.
Twenty-seven passengers died in the blast, and another 132 were injured. The blast-related damage is estimated at over 148 million roubles.