Suspected church arsonists in Tatarstan are being tortured by police

On December 9, 2013, lawyer Radik Galimov contacted the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Tatarstan with a statement to initiate a criminal case into the torture of his client, 30-year-old resident of Nizhnekamsk Rafael Zaripov.

R. Zaripov was detained by police on December 4, 2013, and taken into custody based on a court order. According to the lawyer, the police brutally tortured R. Zaripov (including with electric shock), “ demanded to confess to making some kind of rocket or grenade, to setting churches on fire, and demanded to name his accomplices .” After the torture, R. Zaripov “lost his legs.” The ambulance team called by the lawyer recorded numerous hematomas, a spinal fracture, signs of damage to the spinal cord and rupture of the bladder walls.

The lawyer demands to consider the issue of initiating a criminal case against the persons who tortured R. Zaripova.

On December 14, 2013, it became known that on December 2, 2013, Chistopol police officers detained 24-year-old Rushan Khusnutdinov. A search was carried out in his house, and he was kept for five days in a detention center in the village of Alekseevskoye, tortured and “demanded to take responsibility for the burning of churches and other terrorist attacks.”

“ In the Alekseevsky temporary detention center, the employees beat a sincere confession out of me: “ You are suitable for us, because you are a programmer, you understand wiring and circuits, which means you can assemble an explosive device . ” And in Nizhnekamsk they already demanded that other people be slandered and named specific names. I was told: “ If you testify against them, we will make you a classified witness. No one will know that it is you, you will have nothing to worry about. Just say that they set fire to churches, we will immediately release you. ” But I don’t even know these people ...,” R. Khusnutdinov told reporters.

According to R. Khusnutdinov, other persons suspected of committing terrorist attacks in Tatarstan are Ruslan Gafurov, Marat Sabirov (arrested), Airat Sitdikov (detained by the police, is in the temporary detention center in Nizhnekamsk) and a certain Shaidullin.

On December 26, 2013, from the report of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights under the President of the Russian Federation, another fact of torture became known: Almaz Galeev was probably castrated by employees of the investigative authorities of Nizhnekamsk (according to the head of the investigative department, “ he cut off his genitals with a blade from razor, which was found in the isolation cell ").

In addition, the report identifies other suspects in the church arson case: Ayrat Raisovich Sitdikov (born 1978), Marat Khalilovitch Sabirov (born 1978), Daniil Vladimirovich Mukhlisov (born 1992), Mikhail Mikhailovich Martyanov ( born 1991).

Sources

• Gordienko I. Who is detained and how for burning churches in Tatarstan // Novaya Gazeta. 2013. December 12.
• Gordienko I. General arrests in Tatarstan. Who are they trying to pass off as church arsonists // Ibid. 2013. December 14.
• Report of Council members following a trip to Chistopol and Nizhnekamsk to verify information about violations of the rights of detainees // Official website of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights. 2013. December 26.