Supervisory commission of Kabardino-Balkaria visits Murat Bizhev at SIZO

The public supervisory commission over prisons and jails in Kabardino-Balkaria met Murat Bizhev, who is kept in SIZO (pre-trial prison) and accused of storing firearms.

During the meeting, Bizhev told about the circumstances of his detention. At the present time, according to his story, he has no complaints. The traces of beatings have gone; pain is still felt in his right side.

Murat Bizhev said that on August 24, after his work he was on his way home by means of hitch-hiking. When he got out of a car in the centre of the village of Baksanyonok near the administration, two masked men got out of a silver VAZ-2114 car, caught him, put him into the car with a black plastic bag over his head and his hands tied with tape and took him to some unknown place. Bizhev did not want to tell about what happened later.

According to the lawyer Elena Bairamkulova, Bizhev was subjected to physical pressure - beatings and torture, as a result he incriminated himself by signing a confession about storing a grenade. On the fact of torture applied to Bizhev the lawyer addressed the prosecutor's office, the investigatory department, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" and other public advocacy organizations.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Bairamkulova that at the moment she had received no answer to her appeals.

The Investigatory Department of the ICRF (Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation) for the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria has taken to consideration the publication of the "Caucasian Knot" about application by law enforcers of prohibited methods to the detainee Murat Bizhev. Currently, the investigatory division for the city of Nalchik is holding a pre-investigation check, which will lead to some procedural decision, said Tatiana Nauzhokova, a senior assistant of the above Department.