Suspected militant-attacker in Dagestan claims being tortured

Zaur Magomedov, arrested within the case of the militant attacks in Derbent and Makhachkala, has reported torture and called himself not involved in the incidents, Shamil Khadulaev, the head of the Dagestani Public Oversight Commission (POC), has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 27, a court in Makhachkala arrested a member of the grouping created by Osman Omarov on charges of committing a terror act. According to investigators, the accused man had helped organize the attack in Derbent, but did not take part therein. On July 4, it became known that the residents of Sergokala and Makhachkala, Magomed, Khalid and Zaur Magomedov, were arrested for two months on charges of preparing terror acts and illegal weapons trafficking.

Zaur Magomedov has claimed that he had nothing to do with Omarov’s grouping, but was familiar with him, as he performed some finishing works for him. “They tortured him with electric shock, gave him painful holds, and put a grenade on his tied hands, which, according to his and his mother's words, was then planted into his apartment,” Mr Khadulaev has written.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 23, in Derbent and Makhachkala, militants attacked synagogues and an Orthodox Church. Overall, 22 people perished, and 46 others were wounded. Relatives of Magomed Omarov, the head of the Sergokala District, were among the attackers; he was dismissed after these events.