Fact:
On April 3, 2017, the day Vladimir Putin was due to visit the city, a suicide bombing was carried out in the St. Petersburg metro, killing 15 people and injuring 64. An al-Qaeda affiliate, Imam Shamil Battalion, claimed responsibility.
“... Former prison governor Ian Acheson, an adviser to think tank the Counter Extremism Project, told the BBC he was "completely against" terrorism charges being considered. He said: "I think giving these people an ideological justification for what they've done is profoundly dangerous. These are common criminals. These are people who've tried to incinerate human beings in hotels. They have looted vape shops, they've burned down libraries. There's no ideological coherence behind any of that. "These are common thugs, and they need to be treated as such, as they were back in 2011, and they need to be given exemplary sentences, because there's a lot of debate to be had about the societal drivers for all of this, but for now the state has to get back in control.”
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
Fact:
On April 3, 2017, the day Vladimir Putin was due to visit the city, a suicide bombing was carried out in the St. Petersburg metro, killing 15 people and injuring 64. An al-Qaeda affiliate, Imam Shamil Battalion, claimed responsibility.
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