Rights defenders list law violations in Ibragim Gadjiev's persecutions

Law enforcers have blocked Ibragim Gadjiev in a car outside the courthouse in Makhachkala with no legal grounds, detained him again and didn't let his advocate and members of the Public Oversight Commission (POC) to enter the police station, Sapiyat Magomedova, an advocate, Uma Askerkhanova, a POC member, have stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the evening on April 1, law enforcers blocked the car with Ibragim Gadjiev inside, not allowing him to drive away from the building of the Kirov District Court in Makhachkala. They demanded from Gadjiev to follow them to a police station for questioning. Gadjiev spent the night in the car – he feared that law enforcers might take him away to some unknown place, where he would be tortured. On April 2, in the afternoon, Gadjiev got out of the car and was taken to a Makhachkala police station. Law enforcers refused to let his advocates to see him.

Sapiyat Magomedova, Ibragim's advocate, has sent applications about law enforcers' actions to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) and to the Dagestani branch thereof; stating that law enforcers had blocked the car with Ibragim Gadjiev near the courthouse for about 24 hours. According to Magomedova, these actions fall under the criminal articles on abuse of power and office.

Uma Askerkhanova, Deputy Chair of the Dagestani POC, also intends to apply to the supervisory and investigating bodies about law enforcers' actions. "Over the past 24 hours, we've seen a lot of offenses. The man was released from the courtroom; no charges were put forward against him, but he was not allowed to go home," she has noted.

The law enforcers' demand to follow them to a police station for interrogation had no legal force, Ms Askerkhanova is sure. "Naturally, Gadjiev refused; he had every right to do so. The court acquitted him; there were no other claims against him. Besides, he felt bad after the beatings and violence that had been applied to him. All this was fixed by the ambulance team, which we called to the police station on March 31," she has added.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 2, 2021 at 09:31 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.