People are killing themselves in Tatarstan to bring attention to police torture

Prosecutors in Tatarstan are expanding their investigation of torture allegedly committed by local police officers.

On November 2, a court in Nizhnekamsk arrested three officers for two months on charges of suspected abuse of authority. The policemen reportedly abducted a hospital orderly named Ilnaz Pirkin on October 19, brought him to the forest and beat him, and then booked him at the station, where they tortured him further, demanding that he confess to stealing items from parked cars.

Pirkin later killed himself, saying he hoped his death would bring attention to police corruption. Afterwards, investigators have started reviewing another seven criminal cases with suspicious suicides.