Residents of the stanitsa of Orjonikidzevskaya in Ingushetia report kidnapping of their relative

Resident of the stanitsa of Orjonikidzevskaya, Sunzha district of the Republic of Ingushetia, Ismail Tsechoev born in 1981 was beaten up and kidnapped by the personnel of an unidentified enforcement agency, then accused of illegal storage of arms, his relatives report.

The incident took place at about five o’clock in the morning, November, 24. The personnel of the enforcement agency drove up to the Tsechoevs’ house in several “Ural” and “UAZ” armored vehicles and encircled the house. Several masked members of the top bass dragged Ismail out of the hose and started beating him up. The rest burst into the house where Ismail’s mother Lidia Tsechoeva and his sisters lived and threatening them with arms made the women sit down on the floor.

The members of the top brass did not produce any documents or introduce themselves and behaved rudely. They searched the house, took photos of the documents of all the members of the family and took away Ismail’s passport and mobile. The Tsechoevs stated that some valuables and documents disappeared from the house after the search.

Having searched the house the men left taking Ismail with them, without explaining the reason for his detention to his relatives and only advised then to appeal to Sunzha district Department of Interior Affairs but there the Tsechoevs received no information on where Ismail was and why he was detained.

On November, 25, armed and masked people came to the Tsechoevs’ house again and introduced themselves as officers of Federal Security Service. Ismail was with them. His relatives saw signs of beating on his face and also noticed that he was walking with difficulty.

There was a search in the house again, two young people who came together with the members of the top brass were taken as witnesses. Lidia Tsechoeva tried to invite her neighbours but her request was ignored. During the search no prohibited items were found. Ismail’s relatives said that the enforcement officers left taking Ismail with them.

At night of November, 26, the personnel of Federal Security Service passed Ismail Tsechoev over to the Department of Interior Affairs of Sunzha district but they refused to receive him for he was severely beaten up and did it only after complete medical examination of the injured person. The examination was done by physicians of district hospital of the stanitsa of Orjonikidzevskaya. They registered multiple haematomas on his body, nose fracture, closed craniocerebral injury and brain concussion.  

On November, 27, a trial on the motion of selecting preventive punishment for Ismail Tsechoev submitted by an investigator of district Department of Interior Affairs was held. Only in court it emerged that he was accused of violation of clause 222 (illegal storage of arms) of the Criminal code of the Russian Federation. A representative of public prosecutor’s office declared that the protocol of search was drawn up with violations, without presence of witnesses and cannot therefore be a reason for arrest according to this clause. The court imposed on Tsechoev an administrative arrest for 72 hours.  

There are no comments from representatives of the Ministry of Interior Affairs or the republican Federal Security Service concerning the charges brought against their personnel yet.