Experts emphasize need for public control over police in North Ossetia

When commenting on the death of a resident of Vladikavkaz after the interrogation at the police station, human rights defender Varvara Pakhomenko has stated that the society needs to establish public control over the activities of the law enforcement bodies to eliminate torture and abuse at police stations. According to Dina Alborova, an activist from South Ossetia, in social networks, people are actively discussing the tragedy. She believes that the death of the Vladikavkaz resident resulted from the police impunity.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for North Ossetia, at night of November 1, 39-year-old Vladimir Tskaev, suspected of wounding a policeman from a firearm, died at the Vladikavkaz Republican Clinical Hospital. Meanwhile, the MIA has reported that the man had "injured himself". On November 2, relatives of Vladimir Tskaev came to the rally.

According to Varvara Pakhomenko, an analyst from the International Crisis Group, messages from North Ossetia often report about the use of torture against detainees during the investigative and operational activities, as well as about the facts of the use of violence against persons kept at penitentiary institutions.

Dina Alborova, Chair of the "Association for Social, Economic and Cultural Development of South Ossetia" (ASECD), has emphasized that the civil society should express its attitude to the incident with Vladimir Tskaev.

A resident of Vladikavkaz states that policemen are more interested in job performance figures rather than in positive public opinion.

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