Investigation of October 2002 Terrorist Act near Government House in Chechnya Makes Fast Headway

The testimonies given by two persons arrested in connection with the terrorist act at the House of Government of Chechnya in Grozny are finding "objective confirmation" in other documents and materials of the case, prosecutor of Chechnya Vladimir Kravchenko stated on Tuesday. He recalled that three persons had been arrested in Chechnya the other day on suspicion of participation in that terrorist act. During the detention, one of them tried to offer resistance and was wounded.

The explosion near the House of Government of Chechnya in Grozny on December 27th, 2002, took 70 human lives, and 310 people were wounded.

Two of the arrested Chechens are giving confessing evidence. The third is refusing to admit his participation in the terrorist act but the testimonies given by his accomplices and the materials of the case prove his guilt. According to the information of the investigation, they participated in the preparation of the terrorist act and in the delivery of the explosives.

Asked about the organisers of the explosion near the House of Government in Grozny, the prosecutor of Chechnya stressed that the investigation intended "to complete the work on every story" concerning the leaders of the terrorist act. "We promised to give the names of all of them, and we will give them," he noted. But for the time being, in the interests of the investigation, the additional information on this question should not be disclosed, Vladimir Kravchenko said.