Residents of Chechnya report clergyman's detention and beating

Residents of the Urus-Martan District of Chechnya have reported about kidnapping on February 23 by employees of some unidentified security agency of clergyman Movsar Ismailov. According to their story, Ismailov was released after torture and beatings. The on duty unit of the ROVD (District Interior Division) said that there was no application on the incident; thus, no actions were taken.

According to local residents, kidnapping of Ismailov was committed in the village of Gekhi. Armed men in black military camouflage uniform arrived at Ismailov's house in two dark cars - a Lada Priora and a VAZ-21112 without license plates. They did not introduce themselves and without any explanations took Ismailov away with him. His wife was told that Movsar was taken away for giving some evidences, and he would be back in half an hour.

"However, he was not back an hour later. Then, his relatives addressed the ROVD, but militiamen knew nothing about Ismailov's detention. Movsar returned on the next day. All the night he was tortured and beaten. At present, he is at home; however, neither he nor his family want to comment on the incident," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by an activist of a local human rights organization.

"We know Movsar as an honest and decent man. He has a family with three children; he did nothing forbidden; there were no grounds for his detention. If he was involved in anything serious, they wouldn't let him free," said a Gekhi villager.

Some residents say that Movsar Ismailov expressed his dissatisfaction with the actions of some religious leaders and openly expressed his views on several issues pertaining to religion.

With regard to information about Ismailov's detention, the on duty unit of the Urus-Martan ROVD told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the case was "very strange". "It's not a tradition here to detain clergymen. Unfortunately, his relatives failed to lodge an application; no information about the incident arrived; therefore, we took no measures," explained the ROVD.