Russian authorities say they have detained, and obtained a confession from, a man linked to a terrorist metro bombing in St. Petersburg that killed 14 passengers. The Russian Federal Security Service says that Abror Azimov pled guilty to planning the attack. Officials say that, for his part, Azimov said that he does not object to being detained and does not deny his involvement in the attack, but said he was not involved in planning, and did not plead guilty.
The attack was carried out on April 3 by a suicide bomber. The man who brought the explosive device onto the train carriage is believed to have been a national of Kyrgyzstan with a Russian passport. Russia had recently beefed up its anti-terrorism code, creating a series of laws last summer that punish proselytizing or failing to report certain types of crimes, and force cell phone companies to store all communications data for 6 months. Before they were signed by President Vladimir Putin, Russia's Human Rights Council, an official agency, asked him to reject the anti-terror bills because of privacy and constitutional concerns.
From Jurist, April 18. Used with permission.
