11:14, 7 September 2022

Prosecutor’s Office declares illegal refusal to investigate kidnapping of a Dagestani man by Chechen law enforcers

The officer of the public prosecutor's department. Photo by Yelena Sineok, Yuga.ru

The decision of the Investigating Committee on the refusal to institute a criminal case on the kidnapping of Dagestani native Ibragim Selimkhanov by Chechen law enforcers was declared illegal. The Prosecutor’s Office returned the materials to investigators, the “SK SOS” Crisis Group reported.

First, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) refused to investigate the case, and then the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) did the same. The case has not been investigated for more than a year, the “SK SOS” Crisis Group reported in its Telegram channel.

On May 15, 2021, four men in civilian clothes approached Ibragim Selimkhanov in Moscow. They took away his passport, apartment keys, and a mobile phone, then forced him into a car, and took him to Grozny. In Chechnya, the law enforcers accommodated him with relatives on his mother’s side, with whom Ibragim Selimkhanov had never communicated earlier. The man was controlled by the law enforcers, but he managed to quietly leave the house and leave Chechnya. In Moscow, Ibragim Selimkhanov filed a complaint about the kidnapping.

“In general, in our practice, public statements about crimes in Northern Caucasus, in particular against members of the LGBTQ+ community, do not receive due attention from the law enforcement bodies. Since 2017, there have been no actual checks on the complaints filed by Aminat Lorsanova and Maxim Lapunov,” said Miron Rozanov, a member of the “SK SOS” Crisis Group, as quoted by the “Kavkaz.Realii”*.

According to Miron Rozanov, Ibragim Selimkhanov stays safe outside of Russia.

*The publication has been included into the register of the foreign media performing the functions of a foreign agent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 6, 2022 at 05:23 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: Caucasian Knot