Villagers of Kubina in KChR complain of beating by police

As reported by locals, at night on May 26, policemen beat and detained a group of young people in the village of Kubina, Abaza District of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR). The MIA has refuted the information, claiming that policemen did nothing illegal.

On May 27, five Kubina villagers, born in 1984-96, lodged applications to the Prosecutor's Office of the KChR and the local Investigating Department of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), demanding to prosecute employees of the Ust-Djeguta ROVD (District Interior Division).

The claimants assert that policemen were beating and threatening them. The certificates of the forensic bureau of May 27, copies of which have been presented to the "Caucasian Knot", indicate that all the five victims received blows with blunt objects in the period of 1-2 days before the medical examination.

On May 25 around 11:00 p.m. a group of local youth was near the car park watching football, said one of the villagers. "We went out when they heard woman's screams. We saw three men with truncheons in their hands. They began beating everyone they met," he said.

Then, people dispersed. "After a while, already three civilian cars and one VAZ car drove into the village, stopped, took me and my friend with no explanations. We were taken to the police station of the Moskovsky settlement, then to Ust-Djeguta," the villager has added.

According to his story, the detainees were beaten at the ROVD; and in total some 12-13 persons suffered from the policemen's actions.

"Policemen took away those who were just walking down the street. They asked about the instigator of some conflict with the police. We were five at the ROVD; two more were brought on the following day. Besides, in the village, five or six people were beaten and released," said the source.

After the incident, he was told in the village that the detention was preceded by some conflict between policemen and two or three local residents. "No one saw that policemen were beaten. There is no witness to this in the village," he concluded.

On May 26, about 110 residents of Kubina organized a rally, said another villager.

"It was visited by the heads of the Abaza District and Abaza ROVD. People said they were indignant with what had happened. The ROVD boss promised to take action and investigate into the incident," said the source.

Law enforcement bodies deny the information about the detentions and beatings of Kubina villagers.

"There were no detentions at night on May 26 at the above ROVDs," Kazim Baibanov, the spokesman of the MIA of the KChR, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

He also told the details of what happened on the eve of the incident. According to his story, near the house No. 4 in the neighbourhood of Moskovsky, located near Ust-Djeguta, at about 1 a.m. on May 25, three residents of Kubina started a fight.

"Disobeying lawful order to stop it, they rendered resistance to the police at detention and fled in a white VAZ-2107 car," said Kazim Baibanov.

According to his story, as a result of the incident, a 38-year-old police lieutenant was brought to the surgical ward of the central district hospital of Ust-Djeguta with brain concussion, while a 24-year-old police sergeant with a broken jaw and a concussion was sent to the neurosurgical ward of the Clinical Hospital of the KChR in Cherkessk.