17:22, 27 October 2016

AI calls on to check data on torture of Karpyuk and Klykh

Video conference of Nikolai Karpyuk and Stanislav Klykh (right) in the Supreme Court of Russia, October 26, 2016. Photo by Oleg Krasnov for the 'Caucasian Knot'.

The Amnesty International (AI), a human rights organization, has urged Russian authorities to investigate the statements of Nikolai Karpyuk and Stanislav Klykh (also written as Stanislaw Klykh and Mykola Karpyuk), citizens of Ukraine, convicted in Russia, about use of torture to them during the investigation.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 26, the Supreme Court of Russia upheld the sentence to Karpyuk and Klykh, convicted for their alleged participation in the first Chechen war in the ranks of the militants.

On May 26, on the basis of a verdict of guilty pronounced by a jury, the Supreme Court of the Chechen Republic sentenced Nikolai Karpyuk to 22.5 years of imprisonment and Stanislav Klykh to 20 years of imprisonment. According to investigators, on December 31, 1994, being members of the "UNA-UNSO" (an organization which activities are banned in Russia by the court), Nikolai Karpyuk and Stanislav Klykh were involved in combat actions for Grozny, and they killed at least 30 Russian soldiers and officers. The sentenced men denied their involvement in the conflict in Chechnya and complained about torture during the investigation.

"The two Ukrainians, sentenced to imprisonment after they confessed of a series of murders under torture, are victims of a mockery of justice," says a press release posted today on the AI's website.

According to John Dalhuisen, the Director of the AI's Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, "numerous violations of fair trial standards and inconclusive evidence of the prosecution – everything points to the fact that the case was fabricated."

"The Russian authorities should investigate the credible reports of torture by law enforcers, as well as the circumstances of the refusal to provide the services of an advocate," the AI's press service quotes Mr Dalhuisen as saying.

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