Beslan police accused of negligence

A Russian court today opened the trial of three police officers accused of negligence facilitating the school hostage taking in the southern city of Beslan that left 331 people dead.

The officers, who held senior positions in the regional police force, went on trial in Beslan’s district court. They are charged with “criminal negligence” that let a truckload of heavily armed attackers drive unimpeded across the southern province with many police checkpoints, and seize Beslan’s School No.1 on September 1, 2004.