Moscow Court convicts 13 defendants as extremists

The Moscow District Military Court sentenced 13 people to terms
ranging from eight years to life imprisonment today. Five out of
thirteen people were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The defendants were found guilty of committing several serious crimes,
including 27 murders, the preparation of terrorist attacks and the
attempted murder of a law-enforcement officer, as well as
participation in an extremist society. The Court said that defendants
participated in the extremist organization "FNL-North", which was one
of the sub-organizations of the National Social Society, which was
closed by the decision of the Russian Supreme Court in February 2010
as being extremist.

During the preliminary investigation, almost half of the defendants
gave a confession, but all apart from defendant Sviridov retracted
their confessions in court, claiming that they were tortured and put
under moral pressure.