Dec 24, 8:37 AM
EST
Russia Court Hears Hostage
Victims' Suit
By ERIC ENGLEMAN
Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) -- A Russian court held a preliminary hearing
Tuesday in a lawsuit against the city of Moscow by victims of
a terrorist raid on a theater this fall, and the plaintiffs'
lawyer said his clients were demanding nearly $40 million.
Lawyer Igor Trunov told reporters at the Tverskoi district
court that 38 clients had joined the suit, including both
former hostages and survivors of those killed. They are asking
for a total of $39 million - a level of damages unknown in
Russia.
The Oct. 23-26 theater siege by Chechen rebels ended after
Russian special forces stormed the building, killing the 41
hostage-takers. At least 127 of the hostages died from the
effects of a narcotic gas used to knock out the militants; two
died from gunshot wounds.
Trunov has said he is basing his case on Russia's new
anti-terrorism law, which he says stipulates that the Russian
region where a terrorist attack occurs should pay moral and
material damages to the victims.
The court set a Jan. 16 date to start hearings in the case,
Trunov said after Tuesday's closed-door session.
City officials have sharply criticized the lawsuit, saying
the federal government - not Moscow - is responsible for the
Chechen conflict and its consequences.
Days after the crisis ended, government officials paid
$3,150 to the families of hostages who were killed and half
that amount to those who survived the ordeal.
And Tuesday, the Moscow city government announced it would
pay $47 a month to the children of hostages who died in the
theater siege, TVS television reported.
But some survivors have complained the payments were
insufficient and that they cannot afford long-term treatment
for physical and psychological problems stemming from the
incident and the money isn't enough to compensate for the loss
of family breadwinners in the raid.
Tatyana Karpova, whose son Alexander died in the siege,
said she joined the case not to become a millionaire but to
make a point to the Moscow government.
"What the government gives us is nothing," she said on the
snowy steps of the courthouse. "We will fight to the end."
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