CAT recognized as victim in case of arson of JMG's office

Investigators have recognized the Committee against Torture (CAT) a victim in the criminal case of arson committed in the Grozny office of the Joint Mobile Group (JMG) of human rights defenders in December 2014. This was reported by Mr Kalinin, the Deputy Chief of the First Department for investigation of particularly important cases of the Chief Investigating Department for the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) of the Russian Investigating Committee (ICRF), who took the case for consideration. The human rights defenders have posted a copy of the Kalinin's resolution on the page of the CAT in the social network Facebook.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 13 it became known about a fire in the Grozny office of the JMG, which consists of rights defenders from the Committee against Torture (CaT).

According to the resolution, during the preliminary investigation, it was found out that "as a result of the ensuing fire, the property of the interregional public organization 'CAT' worth more than 260,512.07 roubles was damaged and destroyed." The arson was committed by "unidentified persons who broke the front door." The offenders also "broke furniture, damaged walls and a bathroom and brought into disrepair the office equipment and personal belongings of employees," the resolution reports.

The human rights defenders of the CAT have also reported that the District Department of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation conducts "an additional investigation into the complaint filed by the JMG's lawyers about misconduct of Chechen policemen who detained the human rights defenders on the day after the arson and confiscated all their equipment available."

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