Alexander Dzasokhov

Alexander Dzasokhov ( _ru. Александр Сергеевич Дзасохов) is the former head of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania.

He was born April 3, 1934 in Vladikavkaz, graduated in 1957 from the North Caucasus Mining Metallurgical Institute and holds a doctorate in politics. From 1992 - 1993, he was a people's deputy of Russian Federation and from 1993 - 1995, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. On January 18, 1998, elected president of North Ossetia with 76% of the vote and was re-elected on January 27, 2002, with 56,02% of the vote.

He voluntarily quit his post on May 31, 2005 and was succeeded by Taimuraz Mamsurov. He is currently a Representative of the Republic of North Ossetia in the Federation Republic.

On January 13, 2006 he testified at the trial of Nur-Pashi Kulayev, the lone surviving terrorist from School No. 1 in Beslan. Two buses full of victims arrived in Vladikavkaz on that day to see his long-awaited court appearance. Although many victims consider Dzasokhov among of those guilty for the Beslan school hostage crisis on September 1-September 3, 2004, the situational investigation carried out by the Prosecutor General's Office determined that no officials were to blame for the deaths, so he could testify without fear of legal ramifications for himself. [Dzasokhov Testifies in Beslan Case, Kommerskant, Russian Daily Online, January 13, 2006]

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