Kabardino-Balkarian resident claims disappearance of her husband Azamat Abazov

Azamat Abazov, a resident of the town of Baksan in Kabardino-Balkaria, was invited to law enforcement agencies for a conversation and then disappeared. This was claimed by his wife Raisa Abazova, who contacted the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

In her appeal of September 24, Raisa Abazova reported that on the other day, on September 23, at about 8:00 p.m., the house ownership of the Abazov family was approached by investigator Arsen Tishkov. He explained that his bosses ordered to urgently deliver Azamat Abazov for a conversation. After 20 minutes, they came back. They said that at that moment, the chief was not at the place and that they would come back in about two hours or would send a taxi.

At about 10:30 p.m., a taxi approached the house, and Azamat Abazov left in it. After that, his wife and mother regularly called him on his mobile phone. After a while, Azamat Abazov called his mother back and said that everything was fine and that he reached the right place. He asked her not to disturb him with calls and noted that he would call back, if necessary. According to the report of the HRC "Memorial", it was his last mobile phone call later, the phone number was unavailable.

According to the report, the family members went to search Azamat Abazov; however, neither the Investigatory Committee, nor the unit on duty of the Baksan OVD (Interior Division) confirmed the information that Azamat Abazov was at their places. According to the human rights organization, in the morning of September 24, the relatives of the disappeared man have found a taxi driver, who drove Azamat Abazov in his car. He confirmed that he left him at the building of the Baksan OVD. The relatives also said that the Chief of the Investigatory Committee in Baksan refuted the information that he instructed his subordinates to bring Azamat Abazov to him and said that investigator Tishkov was not listed in the OVD and the he did not know anyone with such a surname, the HRC "Memorial" states.

In November 2011, Azamat Abazov released from a penal colony of the Prokhladnoe District of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), where he was serving his sentence under Article "illegal acquisition of arms" of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. On May 25, he filed written appeals to the Ombudsperson in the KBR, Chairman of the Kabardino-Balkarian Human Rights Centre of the KBR, the HRC "Memorial", and the organization "Mothers of Kabardino-Balkaria for Protection of Citizens' Rights and Freedoms". In his appeals, he stated that after his release, he was under constant surveillance of police officers. Azamat Abazov was repeatedly invited for conversations and interrogations, where, according to him, police officers threatened him that they would institute a criminal case of aiding illegal armed formations (IAFs), the HRC "Memorial" notes.

According to the relatives' information, to which the statement of the human rights defenders refers, Azamat Abazov was summoned to the Investigatory Committee of the Baksan Inter-District Investigatory Division by investigator A. Ayubov. In his office, according to the relatives of the disappeared man, there was a man, whom the investigator Ayubov introduced as his colleague from Nalchik, who arrived on the appeal of Azamat Abazov. The conversation took place directly with A. Tishkov. After the brief conversation, the investigator and Azamat Abazov exchanged phone numbers, and the investigator said that he would keep in touch with Azamat Abazov. Since then, they have several phone conversations; however, the wife of the disappeared man is not aware of the details of their conversations, the human rights defenders report.