Chechen SC stops proceeding on Kutaev's complaint of torture

On August 26, the Appellate Instance of the Supreme Court (SC) of the Chechen Republic denied the petition lodged by Ruslan Kutaev, the President the Assembly of Caucasian Nations, against the refusal to open a criminal case on the fact of applying violence to him. Now, Kutaev's defence intends to apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 7, the Urus-Martan District Court of Chechnya sentenced Ruslan Kutaev to four years imprisonment on charge of drug possession. The verdict against Ruslan Kutaev will be challenged. This was stated by Pyotr Zaikin, an advocate of the human rights defender. The international human rights organization "Amnesty International" recognized Ruslan Kutaev a "prisoner of conscience".

On February 26, Kutaev filed a complaint to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), demanding to open a criminal case on the fact of torturing him. He said that in an administrative building of Grozny he was beaten up by Magomed Daudov, the head of the administration of the republic's leader, and by Apti Alaudinov, a Deputy Interior Minister. Then, according to Kutaev, he was taken to the Department of the Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for the Urus-Martan District, where under torture he was forced to give a confession, says a message posted today on the official website of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

According to the defence, by rejecting Kutaev's complaint, the SC of the Chechen Republic gave a carte blanche to the ICRF for inaction.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.