Lawyers treat investigators' demand of Abdurakhmanov's appearance as illegal

Information about criminal cases initiated against a citizen is sent to him by mail to any indicated address or is provided to his advocate; the law does not demand any identity proof to obtain such information, the lawyers of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"* believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in response to a request to report him about the criminal cases initiated against him in Chechnya, the blogger, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, faced a demand to personally appear before the investigator. Given the declared blood feud and the history of his persecutions, the investigator's demand is an invitation to execution, human rights defenders have stated.

The preconditions for providing information on Abdurakhmanov's criminal cases put forward by the investigating bodies have no legal basis, Galina Tarasova, a lawyer for the Hot Spots programme of the HRC "Memorial"*, who was inquiring about the blogger's case, told the "Caucasian Knot".

Ms Tarasova has treated the investigator's argument about the impossibility to verify the identity of the applicant as groundless. "People apply to organizations with hundreds of appeals; and no one is attaching any ID documents to their requests. And in this case, there is no question of any secret information," the lawyer has stated.

* the HRC "Memorial" is recognized in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 30, 2021 at 09:24 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.