Rights defender Kozlovsky reports details of investigation into his kidnapping in Magas

Investigators convinced Oleg Kozlovsky to take a polygraph test to verify that he had told the truth about his kidnapping in Ingushetia.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Oleg Kozlovsky was kidnapped in Magas. Despite the fact that the human rights defender filed a complaint to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) three days after his kidnapping, on October 9, 2018, a criminal case was not instituted until two months had passed.

On February 18, human rights defender Oleg Kozlovsky visited Ingushetia to take part in the investigative actions, he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on the same day. "The case seems to be progressing. Investigators have already accumulated 17 volumes of case materials, but there are no specific suspects in the case yet," the human rights defender explained.

The investigative actions involved identification of suspects by photos, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Abubakar Yangulbaev, an employee of the "Committee Against Torture" (CaT) in charge of the Oleg Kozlovsky's case. "However, the identification by photos had no sense, since the persons who kidnapped Oleg Kozlovsky and then used physical force against him were hiding their faces behind masks," Abubakar Yangulbaev explained.

Investigators also suggested Oleg Kozlovsky to take a polygraph test, Abubakar Yangulbaev said. "According to an investigator and a polygraph specialist, they did that with a purpose to remove any doubts that Oleg Kozlovsky was telling the truth ... There are claims that Oleg Kozlovsky allegedly pretends to be a victim, tells a lie, and wants to defame the law enforcement bodies of Ingushetia. And the polygraph test was conducted in order to remove those suspicions. The polygraph specialist shared preliminary information with us that Oleg Kozlovsky was telling the truth," Abubakar Yangulbaev added.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 19, 2020 at 08:32 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.