Advocate demands to protect rights of witness in Ashikov brothers’ case

Today, in Makhachkala, armed people have taken Ibragim Gadjiev, a witness in a case against policemen Raip and Ziyavudin Ashikov, away from his house. The armed people were seconded law enforcers, Sapiyat Magomedova, an advocate in the Ashikov brothers’ case, suggested.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Raip Ashikov, the former chief of the Makhachkala police, and his brother Ziyavudin Ashikov, the former acting chief of the Kaspiysk police department, are accused of financing terrorism and attempting on the life of a law enforcer. Raip Ashikov pleaded not guilty and claimed that his problems began after he had entered a conflict with a top-ranking official.

At about 6:00 a.m., the armed people took Ibragim Gadjiev, a witness in the Ashikov brothers’ case, away from his house, advocate Sapiyat Magomedova informed the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent. “We think it was a kidnapping. The people who arrived refused to introduce themselves and to present their IDs. They bore no identification badges, and they arrived in cars without state registration plates. The armed people forced Ibragim to go with them and took him away to some unknown destination. We are still not aware of his whereabouts,” the advocate said.

According to Sapiyat Magomedova, Ibragim Gadjiev warned the advocate that he could fall victim to a provocation from the law enforcement bodies. “Ibragim Gadjiev is a witness in the Ashikov brothers’ case. However, he became a witness through a similar kidnapping (that is, earlier, law enforcers already detained Ibragim Gadjiev in a similar way, – note of the ‘Caucasian Knot’). He filed many complaints about his kidnapping to various instances and complained that he was forced to give certain testimonies. Ibragim Gadjiev expected and feared pressure on him from the <law enforcers> involved in the investigation into the Ashikov brothers’ case,” Sapiyat Magomedova emphasized.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 31, 2021 at 12:07 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.