20:51, 2 April 2018

Defence of Oyub Titiev, Chechen rights defender, appeals against refusal to open a case on drugs planted on him

Oyub Titiev in the court room. Photo by the press service of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial"

On April 4, the Staropromyslovsky District Court of Grozny will consider the complaint of the advocate against investigators' repeated refusal to initiate a case on the application lodged by Oyub Titiev, a rights defender, about the marijuana that was planted on him.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Oyub Titiev, the head of the representative office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in Grozny, was arrested on January 11 on charges of possessing marijuana. The rights defender has stated that a law enforcer planted the drug on him.

Pyotr Zaikin, one of Titiev's advocates, has stated in his complaint that the investigator failed to check the information that the CCTV cameras installed in the police statement on the day of Titiev's detention were not working.

According to his advocates, after detention, Titiev was twice brought to the police station; and the very fact of his repeated delivery there proves that the case of his drug possession had been falsified.

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