Law enforcers kept and beat up Chechen woman for three days, rights defenders assert

Malina (Amina) Sadakhanova, a resident of Grozny, who study Arabic and teaches religion in one of the Chechen medreses, had been forcibly kept by law enforcers during three days, sources in Chechnya report. According to the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", the young woman has been severely beaten.

On August 17, special operation was conducted in the town of Mayakovsky of the Staropromyslovsky District of Grozny. Law enforcers cordoned off one of the residential houses, and then took 25-year-old Malina Sadakhanova, who lived in the house, to some unknown destination without any explanations. The woman wore a hijab, and that fact was likely the reason for her detention, the "Caucasian Knot" was told by a member of a local NGO.

According to him, Malina Sadakhanova has been subjected to beatings and torture: her nose is broken, a finger on her hand is injured, and her body is covered with bruises.

On August 21, members of the HRC "Memorial" visited Malina Sadakhanova. According to them, she refused to tell them the details of the incident and to file complains.

According to Oleg Orlov, a member of the Board of the HRC "Memorial", in case if law enforcers had information on the Malina Sadakhanova's involvement in the crime, her detention would have been carried out strictly under the Code of Criminal Procedure, and she would have been provided with legal aid. Oleg Orlov believes that the long absence of Malina Sadakhanova proves that unlawful methods of investigation were used against her.

Officials from the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) have reported they registered no complaints about disappearance or kidnapping of the resident of Grozny.