Dagestani human rights defender Djambulat Gasanov claims being beaten by law enforcer

Law enforcers detained Djambulat Gasanov and four other persons who were accompanying Larisa Bachieva, an activist of the Makhachkala movement "Our City". Djambulat Gasanov claimed being beaten by a top-ranking law enforcer.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 15, Larisa Bachieva closed herself in her car in response to a law enforcers' request to leave the car at the territory of the police station in Makhachkala for examination. The law enforcers did not produce any warrant entitling them to seize the car, began to beat on the car windows, and used tear gas, the activist claimed. The policemen explained that they wanted to check whether the state registration numbers of the car were not false.

Today, at the investigator's suggestion, Larisa Bachieva has come to attend the inspection of her car. Larisa Bachieva was accompanied by several of her friends. "While we were standing there at the parking after the inspection, 15 people approached us, and half of them wore the uniform of law enforcers. They started to address us in an aggressive way and asked us who gave us the right to stand there during the self-isolation regime. The law enforcers began to grab my hands, but the men standing next to me stood up for my protection. Finally, the policemen first took four persons away with them, including Djambulat Gasanov, trade union member Ruslan Mamaev, Suleiman Ferzulaev, and one more man," Larisa Bachieva said. She also added that after a while, the law enforcers also detained Zaur Rasulov.

The detainees were brought to a building of the law enforcement body, and one of the law enforcers stroke Djambulat Gasanov several times, said Larisa Bachieva, who managed to talk to Djambulat Gasanov by phone.

Larisa Bachieva also noted that she used her phone to report about the incident to an on duty prosecutor.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 17, 2020 at 06:48 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.