HRC "Memorial": head of municipal enterprise reports being tortured in Grozny

Lom-Ali Elbiev, a former director of the Grozny Municipal Unitary Enterprise (MUE) "Teplosnabzhenie" (Heat Supply), told rights defenders that he was tortured after being accused of embezzling budget funds, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has stated. Rights defenders have asked the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) to check the man's statement; however, so far, law enforcement bodies have not responded to the appeal.

The 57-year-old Lom-Ali Elbiev, who turned to the HRC "Memorial" on June 5, said that he was forced to flee to Europe after being tortured and persecuted in Chechnya. The man asked for help in bringing to justice those responsible for violating his rights.

According to the "Memorial", on February 24, 2017, Lom-Ali Elbiev was summoned to a sitting, where he was accused of embezzling large amounts of money; and in that evening he found himself in a cellar in handcuffs.

Mr Elbiev told rights defenders that they beat him up with feet, truncheons and batons for seven hours, as well as tortured with electric shocks. The attackers, according to Elbiev, demanded from him to confess to embezzlement, return the money and name his accomplices. Lom-Ali Elbiev was released after he "confessed" to having embezzled 28 million roubles and promised to pay the whole amount back in instalments.

"Fearing for his life and for lives of his relatives, Lom-Ali Elbiev left Russia with his family for a European country," says the press release of the HRC "Memorial".

So far, the "Caucasian Knot" has no law enforcers' or Grozny Mayoralty's comments regarding the information of the HRC "Memorial".

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.