Suspects of church arson in Tatarstan indicted

On January 9th, 2014 one of the suspects believed to be involved in the arson of a church, Rafael Zarilov, was indicted on five counts.

He was indicted under article 205 (terrorist act), 222 (unlawful purchase, transfer, sale, storage, transportation or carrying of weapons, their main parts, ammunition, explosives, and explosive devices), and 223 (unlawful manufacture of weapons) of the Russian Criminal Code. The charge was brought against him in December 2013.

Radik Galimov, the defendant’s attorney, shared this information. He said that he did not have any information about what charges were brought against the other suspects.

On January 27th, 2014, the head of Tatarstan’s Investigative Committee Pavel Nikolaev said that 15 people in total were involved in the case, and that all had been charged under article 205 of the Criminal Code (terrorist act).

Translated by Matthew McDonald