Suspect of killing Vice-Premier of Karachay-Cherkessia states ongoing torture

Atam Achmiz, a suspect in the murder case of the Deputy Prime Minister of Karachay-Cherkessia, has stated the ongoing torture and law enforcers' demands to defame his relatives and certain unfamiliar persons. Vyacheslav Merzakulov, his advocate, said, in his turn, that he is not allowed to meet his client, and investigative actions are carried out without the participation of the advocate, which violates Atam's right to defence.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Ansar Tebuev, the Vice-Premier of Karachay-Cherkessia, who supervised the power block of the government, was killed on October 18, 2004. The investigation into his murder was resumed after on May 30, 2013, one of the suspects, who later confessed, as investigators assert, and named the organizers and perpetrators of the murder, was detained in Cherkessk.

According to the statement of Atam Achmiz made on July 4, agents of the UBOP (Department to Fight Organized Crime) arrived and took him away in a car to Cherkessk. "At the UBOP of Cherkessk I was offered to identify a person whom they brought from Krasnodar, saying that he too took part in the crime, I was accused of, and that he had confessed and would identify me. They told me to identify him, otherwise all the torture would continue," says Achmiz's statement, a copy of which is available with the "Caucasian Knot".

According to the statement, under pressure and threats, Atam Achmiz was forced to identify a man named Oleg, who had never seen before.

The advocate called for urgent measures of prosecutor's reaction to the fact of violation of Achmiz's right to defence.