Church and the Inquisition

Radik Galimov, a lawyer of a resident of Chistopol Rafael Zaripov, arrested on suspicion of arson of churches in Tataria, complained about TFR to torture applied to his client. This was reported by Lenta.ru with reference to a copy of Galimov’s statement received by the editorial office.

On December 4, 30-year-old Zaripov was summoned to the "conversation" in the police department. The next day, the men were informed relatives that he was detained and delivered to Nizhnekamsk. Two days later, Zaripov’s relatives turned to Galimov, and he agreed to represent the interests of the detainee. On December 8, the lawyer met with his client in the temporary detention of the Nizhnekamsk district in the isolation ward and found out that the day after the court decided to imprison Zaripov, the man was undergoing cruel torture.

As Zaripov said, he was beaten and tortured by a stamper for 8-10 hours, demanding to confess to the church and the manufacture of an explosive device. The next day, the police intended to continue torture, but they changed their minds, seeing that he was in very poor condition. Nevertheless, they promised Zaripov to torture him every day, including using the "serum of truth."

Galimov ensured that his client is called an ambulance. A lot of hematomas were found on Zaripov’s body. The doctor also suspected a man's rupture of the walls of the bladder and a fracture of the spike bone of the 11th vertebra. Doctors said that in order to make an accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to hospitalize Zaripov, but the administration of the insulator refused them. Later, New Gazeta said that the victim was nevertheless hospitalized and in intensive care.

In his statement, Galimov insists that his client be subjected to forensic examination, and criminal proceedings were instituted against the police.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Tataria informed aboutthe arrest of several radical Islamists suspected of arson of Orthodox churches. The number of detainees and their names were not specified. At the same time, the message was only about two arson, which, according to the department, were committed on the night of November 17 by two suspects. What are the rest of the arrested crimes was not explained.

Meanwhile, according to Novaya Gazeta, on November 17 in Chistopol, Nizhnekamsk and Novosheshminsk, mass detentions began. Most of those who got to the police were sent to the IVS in the village of Alekseevskoye. There, the detainees were interrogated, and some were on the polygraph. In addition, they took fingerprints and DNA tests.

Along with the arsons of churches - in total, in the region, since the beginning of the year, seven Orthodox churches have burned down - the security forces were interested in an attempt to shell the oil refinery in Nizhnekamsk, also undertaken on November 17. At the end of November, the Tataria Prosecutor's Office demanded that the TFR qualify the arson of churches under Article 205 of the Criminal Code (terrorist act), and an attempt to shelling the oil factory under article 205.4 (organization of the terrorist community and participation in it). The first of these articles provides for the conclusion up to the lifelong, the second - up to 20 years in the colony.

The 62-year-old Kazan Ilmir Imayev, who enjoyed authority in religious circles, told Novaya Gazeta that at the end of November three people went missing in Chistopol: Rais Shaydulin, Marat Sabirov and Ayrat Sitdikov. Having traveled around the city, where the detentions passed, and having talked with the relatives of the detainees and the imams of mosques, Imaev confirmed the fact of torture. At the same time, he noted, people are afraid to treat the security forces. Imayev also said that he himself received threats from the CPE and that recently he has been observing surveillance.

Nevertheless, in the last days, several videos have appeared on the Internet in which the inhabitants of Tataria, turning to the regional authorities and the mufti, Kamil Samigullin, talk about the torture used by the security forces, and ask for help. Meanwhile, officials deny the facts of mass detentions and torture, and the representative of the Republican Spiritual Administration of Muslims stated after a trip to the Alekseevsky district, where the IVS was located, that he had not found any violations.