Russian authorities say [TASS report] they have detained, and obtained a confession from, a man linked to a terrorist metro bombing in St. Petersburg that killed 14 passengers. The Russian Federal Security Service [official website] says that Abror Azimov pled guilty to planning the attack. Officials say that, for his part, Azimov says that he does not object to being detained and does not deny his involvement in the attack, but says he was not involved in planning, and did not plead guilty.

The attack was carried out [NY Times report] on April 3 by a suicide bomber. The man who brought the explosive device onto the train carriage was a man from Kyrgyzstan with a Russian passport. Russia has stepped up its anti-terrorism laws recently, creating [JURIST report] a series of laws last summer that punish proselytizing, failing to report certain types of crimes, and force cell phone companies to store all communications data for 6 months. Before they were signed by President Vladimir Putin [official website], a Russian agency asked [JURIST report] him to reject the anti-terror bills because of privacy and constitutional concerns.