Four men have now been charged in Moscow's Basmanny District Court with committing a terrorist act for the tragic shooting outside Russian rockers Piknik's scheduled performance at Crocus City Hall last Friday (March 22) that killed over a hundred people.
As per CNN, latest updates from the Russian Investigative Committee place the death toll of the act at 137, three of the dead being children. The Moscow Health Ministry also reports that at least 182 people were injured in the attack, with 101 still hospitalized as of last night (March 24) [via the Washington Post].
Out of the 11 people that had been detained the authorities for their suspected involvement, four men — Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev (32), Saidakrami Rachabalizoda (30), Shamsidin Fariduni (25) and Mukhammadsobir Faizov (19) — were charged with a maximum sentence of life in prison. Mirzoyev, Rachalbalizoda and Fariduni pleaded guilty.
All four of the men are from Tajikistan and had worked as migrant labourers in Russia. Multiple sources report that, during their court appearance, they appeared to have been badly beaten. Faizov's plea hasn't been reported, but he was photographed "lying limp in a wheelchair inside a glass cage," CNN reports, adding that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the "visible signs of violence" committed against the suspects.