Kurbanov brothers explain by torture their refusal of defenders during investigation

At trial, Ismail and Mukhtar Kurbanov from the Kayakent District of Dagestan claimed that they refused defenders during the investigation because of pressure from law enforcers. In Dagestan, investigators resumed a verification of the Kurbanov brothers' complaints of torture.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that according to investigators, Ismail and Mukhtar Kurbanov brothers joined an illegal armed formation (IAF), stored explosives, and fought in Syria on the side of a terrorist organization in 2014-2016. On October 22, in the course of the interrogation in court, the Kurbanov brothers claimed that they had been tortured after their detention, rejected all the charges brought against them, and said that they had incriminated themselves because of law enforcers' threats.

On December 16, the Southern District Military Court continued the consideration of the criminal case against the Kurbanov brothers.

A defender read out the testimony given by Mukhtar Kurbanov in March 2019. In his testimony, the young man denies all charges against him and describes in detail how he was tortured by electric current. The defendant explained to the court that earlier, he had not claimed the details of the torture, since he was "visited in a SIZO (pre-trial prison) and told that all his family members would be imprisoned."

The court also examined letters written by Mukhtar and Ismail Kurbanov to refuse a defender during the investigation. The defendants claimed that law enforcers forced them to write the letters of refusal under threats of continued torture.

At the court hearing, the judge reported that Dagestani investigators cancelled the resolution on refusal to institute criminal proceedings on the Kurbanov brothers' complaints about torture. The documents were returned to one of the investigating departments of Makhachkala.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 17, 2019 at 01:35 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.