Crocus City Hall Attack: Turkish Prosecutors Seek Prison Terms for Five Foreigners With Alleged Ties to Attackers

Turkish authorities are prosecuting five foreign nationals accused of being linked to those who carried out the deadly March 22 attack at Moscow's Crocus City Hall, Orda reports, citing Аnadolu.

Turkish prosecutors have revealed ties between five suspects arrested in Istanbul and the Moscow concert hall attackers.

The investigation shows the suspects - Hofizjon Usmonov, Muteullo Asoev, Rahmatullo Salikov, Muhammadrahim Faizov, and Hamza Muhammed - had direct contact with Moscow attackers Shamsidin Fariduni and Saidakrami Rajabalizoda.

According to prosecutors, Faizov, a Tajik national, entered Türkiye with his family through Istanbul Airport on January 5, 2024, the same day as Rajabalizoda. 

Faizov and Usmonov reportedly shared "safe houses" with Fariduni in Istanbul's Esenyurt and Avcılar districts.

Law enforcement caught Faizov and his family on March 28 while trying to flee to Afghanistan via Iran.

They were spotted after leaving their bus on the highway. Days earlier, on March 24, authorities arrested Usmonov, Salikov, and Asoev at Istanbul's Esenler bus station as they attempted to reach Iran.

The investigation uncovered phone calls about the Moscow attack, organizational photos, and revealing messages on the suspects' phones, particularly on Asoev's device. 

The indictment has requested that the defendants Hofizjon Usmonov, Muteullo Asoev, Rahmatullo Salikov, Muhammadrahim Faizov, and Hamza Muhammed be sentenced to 7.5 to 15 years in prison for "being members of an armed terrorist organization." The organization being referred to is ISIS*, banned in Kazakhstan.

The Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court has accepted the indictment; the investigation is ongoing.

* Terrorist organization recognized as extremist in Kazakhstan: ISIS (Islamic State, by decision of the court of the Yesil district of Astana dated October 15, 2015)