A loader recruited by Islamist organizations slipped a drug to his accomplices.
The organizer of the attack at the Crocus City Hall, Shamsiddin Fariduni, secretly added a narcotic substance to the drinks of three other perpetrators of the terrorist act.
“Why is Fariduni the only one whose blood did not show any drugs? Because he was the one who slipped mephedrone into the water bottles of the other three and told them to drink it, including just before the attack on the visitors of the ‘Crocus’ in Krasnogorsk,” the media reported from the 2nd Western District Military Court.
The investigation considers Fariduni to be the “most brutal and cunning” perpetrator of the terrorist act at the ‘Crocus’.
“He looked into the eyes of dying people whom he shot in the concert hall,” the media source clarified.
Previously, in court, Fariduni stated that he pleads guilty. At the same time, his testimony suggested that he allegedly did not realize what he was doing during the terrorist act.
On March 22, 2024, a terrorist act occurred at the ‘Crocus City Hall’, during which armed criminals opened fire on the audience and set fire to the venue. According to the Investigative Committee, as a result of the incident, 609 people were injured, of which 149 could not be saved, and one person was reported missing.
Currently, 19 people are on trial. Of these, 13 are accused of terrorist activities, while the others are charged with assisting terrorists.
It was previously revealed where the terrorists from the ‘Crocus’ were trained. The perpetrators of the attack at the ‘Crocus City Hall’ allegedly underwent special training at terrorist bases in Turkey and Afghanistan. According to court data, Fariduni was supposed to cross from a Turkish terrorist base through the mountains into the Afghan province of Khorasan to join the banned organization in Russia, the Islamic State (IS). However, due to a closed mountain pass in winter, he was offered to demonstrate his skills in preparing for the terrorist act at the ‘Crocus City Hall’.
The accused met and gathered other militants on Russian territory, conducted reconnaissance at the ‘Crocus’, acquired a vehicle for the group's movement, and organized the procurement of weapons. During the initial investigative actions, he cried, and in court, he claimed that the perpetrators allegedly did not intend to kill children in Krasnogorsk. However, the evidence collected by law enforcement contradicts these claims.
Fariduni also confirmed that the organizers promised the perpetrators a payment of 1 million rubles (11,000 euros) for the terrorist act, and after the attack, they headed to the territory of one of the countries bordering Russia, where they were supposed to receive this money.
