Grozny court denies Chechen actor Debishev’s complaint about torture

The Akhmatovsky Court of Grozny has once again dismissed the complaint about investigators' refusal to open a criminal case about the torture of Timur Debishev. Human rights defenders believe that it is necessary to continue fighting, despite numerous dismissals.

Courts are constantly refusing to satisfy complaints about investigators' decisions not to open a criminal case about the torture of Debishev, the "Team against Torture" (TaT)* has stated. The litigation has been going on for almost two years.

Svetlana Gannushkina*, the head of the “Civic Assistance” Committee, believes that it is important to engage in such a search for justice, despite negative experiences.

"There have been successful campaigns in Chechnya long ago. For example, after many trials on citizenship recognition, they began recognizing it for those who arrived before February 6, 1992. There was a campaign to compensate residents of Chechnya for their lost housing," she has explained.

Let us remind you that in 2018, Timur Debishev, an actor at the Grozny Russian Drama Theatre, said that he had been tortured by law enforcers. According to his story, law enforcers found his phone number among the contacts of a suspect in drug trafficking, after which they tortured him with electricity and beat him up, demanding that he hand over his drug-addicted acquaintances.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

**On December 29, 2021, by the decision of the Moscow City Court, the Russian legal entities of the "International Memorial" and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" were liquidated. Activists of the organizations have reported that both organizations will continue their work without forming legal entities.