Residents of Chechnya trust complaints of torture in Krasnaya Turbina

In Grozny, the trial in the case against two residents of the Krasnaya Turbina village, accused of an attempt to leave for Syria, is widely discussed in Chechnya. Local residents sympathize with their fellow countrymen.

According to the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta", Magomed Taramov and Djamalai Tazbiev, detained after a militant attack on Grozny in December 2016, pleaded not guilty and complained of torture. More than 150 residents of Chechnya appealed to General Prosecutor Yuri Chaika with a request to punish the law enforcers who tortured Magomed Taramov and Djamalai Tazbiev.

Many Grozny residents interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent do not rule out that the young people are not guilty. Meanwhile, people prefer to talk about the trial mainly in a circle of their relatives and friends.

"Those guys fell victim to the circumstances," believes Wakhid, a resident of Grozny.

"People are delighted that the villagers are trying to achieve justice. And people sympathize with the villagers, but they are afraid to openly talk about that," says Ibragim, another local resident.

The appeal from the residents of the Krasnaya Turbina village to the General Prosecutor has become the first such case in Chechnya, believes Rizvan, a member of a local NGO.

"This is the first open protest against the law enforcers' arbitrariness in our republic ... However, alas, there is no special hope that the guys will be acquitted," the activist has added.

On August 21, a rally of the killed policemen's relatives in front of the court building in the Staropromyslovsky District was organized by the authorities, believes the leader of another local NGO.

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