MOSCOW, May 26 (RIA Novosti) - North Ossetia's Supreme Court Friday sentenced to life imprisonment the sole surviving gunman of those who took hundreds hostage in a bloody siege at a school in south Russia in September 2004.
Nurpashi Kulayev, 26, was found guilty on all counts by presiding judge Tamerlan Aguzarov for his involvement in the Beslan school tragedy, in which 331 people died, including 186 children.
Kulayev is the only survivor of 32 gunmen who took hundreds hostage at school No. 1 in Beslan in the North Caucasus region of North Ossetia on September 1, 2004, the start of the new academic year.
Prosecutors earlier demanded the death penalty for Kulayev, while his lawyers insisted on a life sentence. Kulayev pleaded not guilty.
Aguzarov said Kulayev's plea of not guilty was groundless, as it had been refuted by witness evidence and evidence that Kulayev had given during the preliminary investigation.
"The court ruled that he [Kulayev] as a socially dangerous individual deserved capital punishment," the judge said. "However, based on a decision of the Constitution Court from February 2, 1999 [that imposed a moratorium on the death penalty], this punishment could not be imposed."
Mitigating circumstances found by the court were Kulayev's two children and his lack of previous convictions.
The court also ruled that Kulayev was sane, and had never suffered any mental disorders.
Kulayev will serve his sentence in a high-security penal colony, but has ten days to appeal the verdict.
