‘It’s a prevention measure’

Why the Russian authorities shared graphic footage of the Moscow terrorism suspects being tortured

The arrests and violent interrogation of the four Tajikistani citizens suspected of carrying out the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack in Moscow last week appeared to mark the first time that Russian security agents have openly published footage of alleged terrorists being tortured. State media employees told the independent outlet Verstka that their superiors asked them to underscore the brutality with which the authorities had “dealt with” the suspects. Meanwhile, the officers themselves told journalists that they’re just responding to demand from the Russian people, who supposedly want to see “blood and revenge.” Meduza shares key points from Verstka’s reporting.

Caution: The following text contains descriptions of extreme violence.

‘This is just the beginning’

Hours after the first reports that the alleged perpetrators of the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack had been arrested, photos and videos of the suspects being tortured began appearing on Telegram channels associated with Russian law enforcement and security services. Two of the most widely shared videos — one showing a person cutting off Saidakrami Rachabalizoda’s ear and forcing him to eat it and the other showing Shamsidin Fariduni being electrocuted — have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. Several of the users sharing the graphic footage, including neo-Nazi Yevgeny Rasskazov, offered to buy the knife used in the ear-cutting video.

All four suspects were badly beaten before their first court appearance. One of them, Muhammadsobir Fayzov, was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair and appeared to be nearly unconscious.

Russia’s state-funded and pro-government media has sought to play up the battered conditions of all four suspects during their court appearance. According to a source from a federal TV channel who spoke to Verstka, employees were told “not to say it outright but to emphasize” that the defendants’ “current appearances differ from the photos on their social media accounts.”

Security officials told Verstka directly that the publication of the torture videos “was sanctioned” and that they wanted the footage to spread as widely as possible. “Burned balls and a cut-off ear — that’s just the beginning. Next will be fingers getting cut off, one by one. It’s a prevention measure,” said an agent involved in the investigation. “Let these pansies know there are no virgins waiting for them in heaven. This kind of demonstration will make a lot of people think twice about consequences and keep them from making a bad decision.”

The source’s colleague had a slightly different explanation. “The population demands blood and revenge, so that’s what we’re showing them,” he said.

The public reaction from Russian officials seems to lend credence to the officers’ claims that the instructions to share the torture footage came from above. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has declined to comment on the videos, while Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has vowed to “kill everyone” who was involved in the terrorist attack. None of Russia’s security agencies have even reported launching any kind of internal review over the leakage of case materials.

‘This could hasten the return of the death penalty’

Federal officials who spoke to Verstka were less enthusiastic about the graphic videos going viral. “Maybe that really is the only way to deal with these kinds of terrorists, but aren’t we supposed to be getting away from Wagner-style approaches?” said a State Duma deputy from Russia’s ruling party. He continued:

Don’t we see something wrong with sledgehammers and cutting off people’s ears? These videos might not appease people — in fact, they may do the opposite. There are plenty of idiots in our country, including in the government, who are liable to torture people with electric shocks for anything from looking at them wrong to supposed “treason.”

The lawmaker also said that he fears the episode with the torture videos “could hasten the return of the death penalty”:

We’ve had various people in the government circling this idea for two years now. It’s good that people like Senator [Andrey] Klishas have continued speaking out clearly against the return of capital punishment. But these kinds of videos get people fired up. And even without this, I think, about 70 percent of citizens support the idea. And in the end, just to satisfy the momentary and emotional thirst for revenge among the majority, there might just be enough support to bring it back.

At the same time, another source close to the Kremlin said that he’s certain the federal authorities did not give their approval for the violent interrogation videos to be shared publicly. “I think the decision to publish them is linked to the unprecedented nature of the situation, and I don’t think we’ll see it happen again in the future,” he told Verstka.