Three suspects charged for obstructing justice in Boston bombing case

Three additional suspects have been taken into custody in the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombings and have been charged with obstructing justice. The April 15 attack killed three and injured more than 200.

According to documents filed in a US federal court Wednesday, two of the suspects have been charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice by throwing away a backpack and a laptop computer belonging to their classmate Dzokhar Tsarnaev, the younger of the two brothers thought to have carried out the bombings.

The two suspects, Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev, are citizens of Kazakhstan who had earlier Wednesday been held by US immigration officials on suspicion of violating terms of their student visas, according to officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

The third person taken into custody, US citizen Robel Phillipos, has been charged with making false statements to investigators following the April 15 attack, according to court documents.

A court appearance for the three is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

The arrest announcement was first made by the Boston Police Department via their official Twitter feed Wednesday.

"Three additional suspects taken into custody in Marathon bombing case. Details to follow," the tweet said.

Suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died in a gunfight with police three days after the bombing. His brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was captured one day after the shootout and is being held in a prison medical center. He has been charged with carrying out the April 15 bombings. If convicted in a federal court, he could receive the death penalty.

The ethnic-Chechen brothers moved to the US in 2003.

hc/mz (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa).

Source: DW (01/05/2013): http://www.dw.de/three-suspects-charged-for-obstructing-justice-in-boston-bombing-case/a-16783806