13:07, 9 July 2019

Rights defenders appeal against refusal to question head of Dagestan on Gasanguseinov brothers' murder case

Parents of Gasanguseinov brothers. Photo: screenshot of the video by the project "Nashe Mnenie" ("Our Opinion") https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukl7T-V0eAs

Lawyers of the Committee against Torture (CaT) have lodged a complaint to a Moscow court about the investigators' refusal to interrogate the head of Dagestan, Vladimir Vasiliev. Rights defenders are sure that the facts known to him about Gasanguseinovs' murder must be added to the case files.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 26, 2019, Mr Vasiliev expressed the opinion that the brothers were killed because of a tragic mistake, and not as a result of a malicious intent. His words provoked a negative reaction in social networks; and human rights defenders demanded to interrogate the head of Dagestan.

Nabi, 17, and Gasangusein, 19, Gasanguseinov were shot dead on August 23, 2016, during a law enforcers' counterterrorist operation (CTO) conducted in the Shamil District of Dagestan. Law enforcers had stated that the casualties were members of a militant grouping, but their fellow villagers insisted that the Gasanguseinov brothers were just shepherds.

"In his interview, the head of Dagestan said not only that he was involved in the case of the shepherd-brothers' murder, but also tells about the involvement of SOBR (special rapid reaction squad) fighters, who, according to preliminary data, did not take part in the above CTO," Abubakar Yangulbaev, a lawyer, has stated on the Cat's website.

Let us remind you that in March 2017, the prosecutor at trial that links of the killed brothers with militants had not been proved. In June 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) communicated the complaint of the father of the brothers, Murtazali Gasanguseinov.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 9, 2019 at 07:50 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.