Advocates accuse power agents of pressing Anchokov, resident of Cherkessk

The defendant Anatoly Anchokov told his advocates that he was forced to slander himself. Power agents did not allow him to talk to his advocates, and, like yesterday, took him away from the Cherkessk SIZO (pre-trial prison) to some unknown place, said his advocates.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Anatoly Anchokov and four other residents of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) were detained in June 2016. At first they were accused of illegal circulation of arms, and then – also of extortion. The advocates of Anchokov said that the defendants gave their all testimonies under pressure; and their client was tortured, including with electric current. On March 16, power agents took Anchokov from the SIZO to some unknown place.

The spokesman of the SIZO’s special unit said that on March 16 Anchokov was taken out for some investigative actions at the request of the investigator in charge, said Fatima Kappusheva. However, the investigator told advocates that "he had not given such an order," she has noted, adding that today the court of Cherkessk has considered a complaint about the investigators’ inaction.

The advocates have complained that the investigator had been ignoring their petitions for four months and the demand to conduct a repeated questioning of the defendant, Angela Urusova, another Anchokov’s advocate, has added.

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