Court orders Russia to pay siege compensation

The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Russia to pay more than a million euro to dozens of plaintiffs over the country’s bungled efforts to end a Moscow theatre siege in 2002.

Chechen militants held some 800 people captive for days before the Russian rescue operation, which left 129 hostages dead.

The court found that Russia had violated the European Convention on Human Rights via “inadequate planning and implementation of the rescue operation”.

The court also faulted the “ineffectiveness” of the subsequent investigation into the raid.

It ruled in Russia’s favour on another complaint, saying it did not commit any violations by using force and firing an unidentified gas into the theatre to knock out the attackers.

The court, based in Strasbourg, France, issued the ruling today.