The Russian Supreme Court ruled on Thursday to shorten the prison terms of the two men convicted of the 1999 terrorist attacks on the Okhotny Ryad shopping mall and Intourist Hotel in Moscow.
The attack on the Intourist Hotel in downtown Moscow took place on April 26, 1999. A total of 11 people were injured, including a 10-month old Spanish baby.
Another 40 people were wounded when a bomb exploded in a shopping mall, about 500 meters away from the Kremlin, on August 31, 1999, badly damaging the building. One of the victims in the attack later died.
The court spokesman Pavel Odintsov said on Thursday the sentences of Khalid Khuguyev, the organizer of the explosions, and his accomplice, Magomazair Gadzhiakayev, have been shortened to 22 and 13 years, respectively.
In the statement, the court spokesman said the ruling comes in line with the article of law amended in 1999 as the offence was committed in 1999.
In December, 2009 the Moscow City Court ruled that the terrorists be sentenced to 25 and 15 years, respectively. The lawyers of the two men appealed the decision asking for milder sentences.
The court's recent decision comes just after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for tougher sentences for terrorists, following two terrorist attacks on the Moscow metro on Monday.
MOSCOW, April 1 (RIA Novosti)
