Court grants Chechen MIA's claim against Murad Amriev and rights defenders

The Lenin District Court of Grozny has granted a claim to protect the honour and dignity filed by the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) against the Committee against Torture and Murad Amriev, a resident of Chechnya, who complained about being tortured by policemen.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in September 2013, Murad Amriev appealed for help to the Joint Mobile Group (JMG) of rights defenders, which included members of the Committee against Torture. According to Murad Amriev, on August 25, 2013, he was kidnapped and tortured for two days in the building of the MIA's Department for Grozny. On February 9, the court obliged the MIA to clarify the claim against Murad Amriev and the Committee against Torture.

On March 27, at the court session, the Murad Amriev's interests were represented by Evgeny Chilikov, a lawyer of the Committee against Torture. In turn, the interests of the Committee against Torture were represented by Galina Arapova, the head of the Centre for Media Rights.

According to Galina Arapova, the defendant party has filed several motions to obtain materials concerning the investigation held by the investigating authorities into the Murad Amriev's complaint about torture. However, the judge dismissed all the motions and refused to announce the decision to collect 100,000 roubles in favour of the MIA as compensation for moral damage.

The defendant party insisted that the legal person "could not feel anguish or physical pain." The defendant party intends to challenge the court's decision after obtaining its reasoning part.

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