Defence challenges refusals to investigate torture of Grozny resident

The advocate of Lom-Ali Elbiev, a former head of the municipal enterprise, has appealed to the court with a complaint about the fact that investigators in Grozny three times had refused to initiate a criminal case on the defendant's torture, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has informed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in June 2017, Lom-Ali Elbiev, a former director of the Grozny "Teplosnabzhenie" (Heat Supply), told that he had been tortured, when they demanded from him to confess to embezzling money from the budget and give out 28 million roubles. Elbiev borrowed 4 million roubles from his friend and handed them over to the extortionists, but after death threats, he and his family left for Europe.

On July 23, Ivan Novikov, an advocate, went to court with a complaint about the refusal to open a criminal case on Elbiev's application.

According to the advocate, the check of the Elbiev's application was carried out "formally." In particular, Elbiev's relatives told investigators about the absence of any visible signs of beatings on him, although the man was beaten on his legs and body, that is, the traces were hidden under the clothes. Besides, no forensic examination was conducted.