Buynaksk residents charged with involvement in IS* retract their confessions

An investigator convinced the court to extend for a month the arrests of four young men from Buynaksk, accused of having links with the militants. The detainees retracted their confessions obtained under torture, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" reported.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in November 2018, Samat Tatarkhanov and Daniyal Zagirov, residents of Buynaksk, arrested on the charge of possession of weapons, complained to the Public Oversight Commission (POC) that they were tortured with electric current after their detention, taken to the forest, and, being at gunpoint, with video recording, were forced to read out the oath to the leader of the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court. Two other suspects, 17-year-old teenagers, were placed to a juvenile penal colony.

On May 20, the Soviet District Court of Makhachkala extended the arrests of the defendants until June 21, the press service of the HRC "Memorial" reported.

The young men are accused of possession of weapons and creation of an illegal armed formation (IAF). Meanwhile, three of the defendants claimed they had given confessions under torture. After that, their mothers filed a complaint to the HRC, reports the message posted on the website of the HRC "Memorial" on May 22.

Tatarkhanov, Zagirov, and Zakaryaev retracted their confessions. They claim they confessed under torture. "Ali Ramazanov also retracted his confession. Meanwhile, his advocate told us that his client was not tortured, but only strongly intimidated," the HRC "Memorial" reported in its press release.

* "Islamic State" (IS, former ISIL) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 23, 2019 at 02:27 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.