17:07, 26 February 2020

Dagestan: Kurbanov brothers denied initiating torture case

Advocate near the Southern District Military Court. Photo by Konstantin Volgin for the "Caucasian Knot"

Investigators refused to institute a criminal case against the law enforcers, whom the brothers, Mukhtar and Ismail Kurbanov, have accused of torturing them in an attempt to knock out confessions to their participation in the Syrian conflict on the side of militants.

The prosecution believes that the Kurbanov brothers were members of the "Makhachkala" grouping of militants, and in 2014-2016, fought on the side of the "Islamic State" (IS, a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court) in Syria. They are also charged with possession of explosives.

On January 30, 2020, investigators decided to refuse to initiate proceedings under the article on the abuse of power by law enforcers "due to the absence of a crime event."

Earlier, the defendants explained their refusal from the defence and confessions during the investigation by law enforcers' pressure. The defendants stated that law enforcers forced them to write application about the refusal from advocates, threatening to continue torturing them.

Alfat Gabbasov, one of Kurbanovs' advocates, said that the brothers' father, who had filed an application on his sons' kidnapping, filed a complaint to the Makhachkala court against the investigators, who failed to consider his kidnapping application of April 3, 2018. The father's complaint is in the court.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 26, 2019 at 00:02 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Konstantin Volgin

Source: CK correspondent