Stefanus Nashama
The ruling party of Namibia, Swapo, in its capacity as the steering body of the Namibian government, has in the strongest terms, condemned the killing of 139 unarmed civilians at a Moscow concert hall in Russia.
Swapo Party Secretary-General, Sophia Shaningwa, condemned Friday’s attack on behalf of the party this week.
“The collective leadership of the Swapo Party and its entire rank and file has condemned in the strongest possible terms, the killing of unarmed civilians of the Russian Federation, by terrorists and assailants who wish to threaten peace and stability of the Russian Federation by targeting innocent civilians.
“Under no circumstances should those who differ with the leadership of the Russian Federation and its ideology, resort to the killing of innocent and unarmed citizens,” said Shaningwa.
Shaningwa stated that the Swapo Party has learnt with great shock and dismay about the attack, describing it as a ‘heinous terrorist attack’.
She added that the party stands with the people of Russia during this extremely difficult time.
“It is hoped that all the criminals, who are involved in this shameful and inhuman attack, are apprehended to account for the immeasurable pain and despair, caused to the people of the Russian Federation and their families,” said Shaningwa.
At the same time, Swapo condemned countries, organisations and individuals who are complicit in harbouring terrorists enabling them to commit such despicable acts against humanity.
According to CNN, four men suspected of carrying out the attack have appeared in court on terror charges, as the Kremlin defended its security services were criticised for failing to prevent the massacre.
Three of the suspects were bent double as they were marched into the Moscow courtroom late on Sunday night, while the fourth was in a wheelchair and appeared unresponsive.
The four main suspects, who are from the Central Asian Republic of Tajikistan but worked in Russia on temporary or expired visas, were named by Moscow City Court as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni and Mukhammadsobir Faizov. They face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
They are accused of storming Crocus City Hall in a Moscow suburb on Friday, shooting civilians at point-blank before setting the building on fire while concertgoers were still inside. The fire caused the roof of the building to eventually collapse.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the massacre and released graphic footage showing the incident – but Moscow has insinuated, that the perpetrators planned to flee to Ukraine.
Kyiv has vehemently denied involvement and called the Kremlin’s claims “absurd.”
At a meeting with other government officials on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin conceded “radical Islamists” had carried out the attack. Still, he tried to pin ultimate responsibility on Ukraine.
“We know that the crime was committed by radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries,” Putin said.
He added that the attack “is a link in a series of attempts of those who have been fighting Russia since 2014 with the hands of Kyiv’s neo-Nazi regime.”
