Woman from Derbent says that criminal case is fabricated against her kidnapped husband

Zarema Balabekova, a resident of the Dagestani city of Derbent, fears that law enforcers try to fabricate a criminal case against kidnapped husband Zhafar Khanmagomedov. This was stated by activists of the Dagestani Regional Organization (DRO) "Pravozaschita" (Advocacy). She addressed the DRO on May 6.

"The woman asked human rights defenders to interfere and stated that law enforcement bodies were trying to fabricate a criminal case against her husband. According to Zarema, on May 2 in the afternoon, her husband Zhafar Khanmagomedov, born in 1985, was kidnapped in Derbent. Initially the police denied that they were keeping Khanmagomedov, but then it turned out that he was kept at the Derbent GOVD (City Interior Division)," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by a source from the DRO "Pravozaschita".

Zarema Balabekova has added that she had learnt about her husband's kidnapping from the eyewitnesses of the incident.

"We work together with my husband in the shop 'Neo', located on the Northern Bus Station in Derbent. On that day, I went to work at 8:00 in the morning earlier than Zhafar. My husband left home at about 9:00 a.m. Everything that happened to him later was reported to me by eyewitnesses of the incident. Zhafar was walking along an adjacent street toward the bus station, when three cars drove up to him. About 15 men got out of the cars – all were armed and in civilian clothes; only one of them was in camouflage. They grabbed my husband and began beating him; then, they forced him into the car," said the woman.

All the actions related to his kidnapping, said Balabekova, occurred in front of many eyewitnesses.

With regard to the detainee Zhafar Khanmagomedov a preliminary investigation is conducted, "which is run by inquiry officials," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by a source from the ROVD of Derbent. However, the source did not say why the man had been detained.

The correspondent could not get any comments at the MIA of Dagestan.