Mothers of Beslan school siege victims detained after staging protest

During a memorial service to commemorate the twelve-year anniversary of the Beslan school siege, several women whose relatives had been among the hostages decided to stage a protest. The service took place at school number 1 in Beslan, North Ossetia.

According to Novaya Gazeta, five women took off their sweaters and jackets to reveal t-shirts bearing accusations against Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The women requested that a thorough and objective investigation be conducted into the hostage crisis.

All of them were detained.

Journalists Elena Kostyuchenko and Diana Khachatryan, who work for Novaya Gazeta and online publication Takie dela, were present at the service and were later detained by police. Khachatryan, who was filming the protest, was accused of having a false passport, while Kostyuchenko was accused of "improperly storing documents."

On September 1, 2004, 1,128 people – among them students, their parents, and teachers – were taken hostage by over 30 terrorists at Breslan's school number 1. The school was stormed only on September 3; the hostages were released and the terrorists were killed.

Three hundred thirty-five people, 186 of them children, were killed in the attack. More than 780 people were injured.