Relatives of Zaur Magomedov, accused of involvement in militants’ attack in Dagestan, claim falsification of evidence

Law enforcers planted evidence during a search in the apartment of builder Zaur Magomedov, accused of involvement in the militants’ attacks in Derbent and Makhachkala. The above was claimed by relatives of the accused man. The conclusion based on the results of a visit of members of the Public Monitoring Commission (PMC) of Dagestan to Zaur Magomedov in a SIZO (pre-trial prison), during which he complained about torture, was sent to the prosecutor’s office.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that Zaur Magomedov, who was arrested in the criminal case on the militants’ attack, complained about torture and called himself not involved in the incident.

“We visited Zaur Magomedov, and there were signs of torture on his body. He complained that he was beaten and tortured with electric current,” reported Shamil Khadulaev, the chair of the Public Monitoring Commission (PMC) of Dagestan.

Raziyat, a mother of Zaur Magomedov, noticed signs of torture on her son’s body during the trial and appealed to human rights defenders.

Zaur worked as a builder, and in such a way he got acquainted with Osman Omarov, the Zaur’s mother noted. “My son is 29 years old, he takes care of two minor children and a pregnant wife ... He is an exemplary family man. He has never been detained,” the woman emphasized.

According to the Raziyat’s version, during the search in her son’s apartment, law enforcers took out a grenade and an improvised explosive device (IED) from a laundry basket, although a son’s wife had emptied the basket two days earlier and the son had not been home for two days.

“It turns out that my son’s wife herself put those things there? Well, how can they work like that?” the Zaur’s mother expressed her indignation.

The law enforcers for a long time refused to call an ambulance for the Zaur’s wife, who felt bad after the search, said Zaira, a Zaur’s sister.

“Zaur complained that they tortured him to force him to confess to the crime. He said that he could not endure the pain, and he told them he would say what they wanted, if only they would stop torturing him,” the source stated.