Acquittal of Dagestani resident in case of links with militants cancelled

A court in Dagestan has overturned the acquittal of Gadjimagomed Rasulov, a local resident, and returned the case to the district court, which had sentenced him to 8.5 years in prison for participating in the armed underground. Rasulov said that he had confessed to investigators under torture.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in October 2019, the court found Rasulov, resident of the Botlikh District, to be a member of an illegal armed formation (IAF), in which, according to investigators, he was a member in 2013-2017.

The prosecutor insisted that Rasulov had initially made a confession, not specifying that he did it under torture. Ilyas Saidov, an advocate, has objected that "it would have been strange" if his client had been allowed to write that his confession was given under torture, the "Kavkaz.Realii"* has written.

In June 2022, the court acquitted Rasulov; and he was released after four years and two months in prison.

He said that he had lived in Astrakhan, where he was detained and taken to Makhachkala; there, he was taken to the study of some power structure, where he was tortured with electric current and threatened to imprison his mother and sisters if he did not sign a confession about participation in the armed underground.

While at the SIZO (pre-trial prison), Rasulov refused from his confession; after which drugs were found on him. After that, according to his story, he was threatened that they would file the case as if the drugs had been given to him by his sister; and they threatened her with criminal prosecution.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 7, 2022 at 08:19 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.