Relatives of Nalchik resident ask prosecutors to take urgent measures in connection with his kidnapping

On June 18, in Nalchik, law enforcement agents kidnapped Eldar Mamaev, a local resident, born in 1982. This was reported by his brother Rustam Mamaev. The kidnapped man is a faithful Muslim; he prays and attends a mosque every Friday, and for a long time, he has been noticing that he is followed. His relatives fear that in case of his detention he may be subjected to unlawful methods of investigation.

On June 21, Rustam Mamaev sent a complaint about kidnapping of his brother to the address of Yuri Chaika, Russian General Prosecutor, Oleg Zharikov, Prosecutor of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), Valery Ustov, Chief of the Investigatory Department of the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), the Human Rights Centre "Memorial", the Human Rights Centre of Kabardino-Balkaria, the organization "Amnesty International", the Office of UN High Commissioner.

According to the complainant, Eldar Mamaev was kidnapped on June 18, at about 5:00 p.m., at the bus stop in Tarchokov Street in Nalchik. At about that time, calls to his mobile phone stopped to come.

On June 19, Zakhida Mazhgitovna Mamaeva, the mother of the kidnapped man, filed a complaint about disappearance of her son to the UVD (Interior Department) in the city of Nalchik. According to Rustam Mamaev, as of June 21, he had no information about his brother.

"My brother is a faithful Muslim, who performs his religious duties, prays, and attends the mosque on Fridays. For a long time, he noticed that he was being followed; and suspicious cars with tinted windows were constantly 'on duty' near his house. He repeatedly expressed to me his concern about that issue, and he said that, despite the fact that he committed no illegal acts, the law enforcement agents could kidnap him," Rustam Mamaev states.

He emphasizes that, according to information available to him as on the evening of June 19, Eldar was kept at the FSB Department of Kabardino-Balkaria; therefore, he did not apply to the competent authorities not to harm him, and he believed that the relatives would be notified of the detention in accordance with the law.

Rustam Mamaev states he fears that in case of detention, his brother may be subjected to unlawful methods of investigation, torture, pressure to give a confession. He asks to take urgent measures of prosecutor's response to the fact of kidnapping of his brother, reveal his whereabouts and, in case if Eldar was detained and criminal proceedings were instituted against him, not to appoint him a lawyer, since relatives have the opportunity to conclude their own agreement with a lawyer.