DUSHANBE -- Locals in a village outside the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, described Faridun Shamsiddin as a “coward” and said they were shocked by news their fellow villager was among the suspects in the deadly terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall near Moscow on March 22.
“I never noticed anything suspicious in his actions. He left for Russia six months ago and has been sending money home to his family,” a relative of Shamsiddin in the village of Loyob told RFE/RL on March 25.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the man said Shamsiddin, 25, worked at a local bakery before moving to Russia and “could not have killed a sparrow. He was a coward.”
Married with a son, Shamsiddin was a convicted sex offender and sentenced to seven years in prison for sexual harassment, a relative said. He was granted an early release in 2020.
Asked about Shamsiddin’s religious beliefs, the Loyob resident said he wasn’t a practicing Muslim: “He never prayed or fasted, and he drank alcohol.”
WATCH: RFE/RL has reached out to relatives in Tajikistan and trawled the social media accounts of some of the eight men who have now been charged over the Moscow shootings, in which at least 139 people were killed at the Crocus City Hall concert venue.
Shamsiddin was among four Tajik citizens charged with carrying out the massacre at the Crocus concert venue in Krasnogorsk that killed at least 139 people in the worst terrorist attack in Russia in two decades. The extremist group Islamic State has claimed responsibility.
Videos released on March 23 showed Shamsiddin telling Russian investigators after being captured that he carried out the attack for money. He said he was paid by unknown people who contacted him via Telegram and instructed him to “kill people” in return for 1 million rubles (about $10,500). Shamsiddin also claimed he had received half of the money before the attack and said he flew on March 4 from Russia to Turkey, where he went to cross the border to be able to extend his stay in Russia.
RFE/RL cannot independently verify the authenticity of the videos or if his statements were made under duress.
Shamsiddin appeared before Moscow’s Basman district court along with three other defendants -- Muhammadsobir Faizov, Dalerjon Mirzoev, and Saidakram Rajabalizoda.
'Nonreligious, Party-Loving Teenager'
In Tajikistan, the men’s family members were rounded up by authorities for questioning, neighbors told RFE/RL correspondents, who visited the hometowns of the suspects.
Shamsiddin’s “wife, parents, and mother-in-law have been taken to Dushanbe for interrogation,” a relative said. "His sister and her three children were deported from Russia, and also her husband filed for divorced from her [because of Shamsiddin's actions].”
In Dushanbe, Faizov’s mother, Sairam Faizova, said she was “in disbelief” that her 19-year-old son is alleged to have committed such an atrocity.
“He’s not a person who would do something like this. He must have been brainwashed by someone,” Faizova said.
Faizova described her son as nonreligious and someone who “loved going to wedding banquets” and dancing at get-togethers with his friends in Dushanbe.
He even dreamed of studying in China, she added.
Faizova said that before the attack she had been in regular contact with her son, who worked at a barber shop in the Russian city of Ivanovo until quitting in November because of his low salary. Faizov told his family he had since been in St. Petersburg selling fruit, she said.
The last time Faizova spoke to her son on the phone was one day before the terrorist attack.
“We spoke twice that day, in the morning and evening. He would only say that he was doing well and asked about me. He talked about his job and said everything will be fine,” she said.
Before-And-After Images Suggest Severe Abuse Of Moscow Terror Suspects
Faizov shared Russian songs on his VKontakte social media account and posted photos and videos of himself driving a car and working at the My Style barbershop.
One of Faizov’s friends on VKontakte is Shohin Safolzoda, a person named by Russian authorities as one of the suspects in the Crocus City Hall attack.
The youngest of four brothers, Faizov left for Russia after graduating from high school nearly two years ago to help his family financially.
Faizov and his parents shared the same house with his married elder brothers and have been trying to save money to buy land to build another house.
An elder brother of Faizov was taken for questioning by Tajik authorities after the attack and hasn’t yet returned home, the mother said. She also has no contact with her husband, who also works in Russia.
“Authorities took away our phones. We can’t call anyone,” she said.
Faizova pleaded with Tajik authorities to return her son and the other suspects brought to Tajikistan, “taking into consideration their young ages.”
“I ask [the authorities] to bring home these young men who have been deceived,” the mother said, adding that the entire family was “suffering the consequences” of her son’s actions.
Faizov was brought to the court in Moscow in a wheelchair and wearing hospital clothes. He was reportedly injured during or after his arrest and showed signs of beating. One interrogation video showed Faizov asking investigators: “Have I done something?” A still from a video was also circulated online suggesting Faizov had lost his left eye after being detained.
Reluctant To Talk
In Rajabalizoda’s home village of Chamanzor, 15 kilometers east of Dushanbe, most locals were reluctant to talk to our correspondents, saying they “don’t know” him.
In the family home of Rajabalizoda, 30, a relative said on March 26 that he was alone at home after police took the terror suspect’s “mother, brother, wife, and two uncles to Dushanbe for questioning.” The relative didn’t want to give his name.
The head of the neighborhood committee has also been “taken in for questioning,” one neighbor said on condition of anonymity. Vahdat district officials were not immediately available for comment.
Tajik security sources were quoted by Reuters as saying that Russian investigators were also in Tajikistan on March 26, questioning family members of the suspects.
Several other Tajik citizens -- including a 62-year-old father and his two sons -- were also detained in Russia in connection with the attack. One of the sons was registered as the owner of the car the suspects allegedly used to flee the scene of the attack, Russian officials said.
Another suspect in custody is Alisher Kasimov, a Russian citizen who was born in Kyrgyzstan.
