TVER, August 29 (Itar-Tass) — Consideration of the merits of the criminal case of the Nevsky Express train bombing in 2009 will begin in the Tver Regional Court on September 12, the regional court that held a preliminary hearing in the case informed Itar-Tass on Monday.
During the meeting the court upheld the measure of restraint against the defendants – detention in custody.
The defendants are 10 residents of Ingushetia: nine members of one family – the Kartoyevs and Zelimkhan Aushev. Four of them are charged with committing a terrorist act and murder, attempted murder and several other crimes. The rest are charged with the organisation of an illegal armed group and membership in it, banditry and illegal making of weapons. Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin approved the indictment.
The case is considered by a panel of three judges, because some case files are classified as secret. The case files make more than 100 volumes. More than 240 people are recognised as the complainants. As many as 50 witnesses are expected to be questioned during the trial.
The speed train No. 166 on the route from Moscow to St. Petersburg was exploded at the Aleshinka-Uglovka rail section on the border of the Novgorod and Tver regions on November 27, 2009. As many as 28 people were killed in the terror act and more than 130 injured. The Russian Railways company (RZD) suffered material damage worth 187 million roubles.
The Nevsky Express train was exploded twice. On August 13, 2007 more than 60 people were injured as an explosive device planted on the tracts went off under it.
Two residents of Ingushetia – Salambek Dzakhiyev and Maksharip Khidriyev were convicted in the first train bombing case. They were sentenced to 10 and 4 years in jail, respectively, for illegal keeping of explosives. However, the court acquitted them on the main charge – the explosion of the train. Dzakhiyev got his punishment by cumulation of crimes as the court also found him guilty of brigandage.
The Nevsky Express is a Russian Railways express train, the fastest on the prominent route between the Leningradsky Rail Terminal in Moscow and the Moskovsky Rail Terminal in St. Petersburg (the Moscow-St. Petersburg Railway). The train has a maximum speed of 200 km/h (125 mph) and does not have any intermediate stations. It consists of a Skoda Chs200 locomotive, 13 passenger cars and a restaurant car. The train covers the distance between the modern and the old Russian capitals in 4 hours 30 minutes.