In Dagestan, mothers of detained young people claim arbitrariness of law enforcers

In Makhachkala, at a press conference held at the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", women described detentions of their sons suspected of illegal possession of weapons and involvement in illegal armed formations (IAFs). According to the mothers, the cases against the young people are fabricated, and they confessed to the crimes under torture.

In March and September 2017, in Kaspiysk and Makhachkala, law enforcers detained young people. According to relatives of the detainees, rounds and explosives were planted to them, reported Sirazhudin Datsiev, the head of the Dagestan branch of the HRC "Memorial".

So, in March in Makhachkala, law enforcers detained seven young people who worked at a furniture workshop in the village of Alburikent.

According to Mutsalali Murtazaliev, an owner of the workshop and the father of one of the detainees, his son was tortured and law enforcers tried to force him to defame himself and his friends. During a search, law enforcers planted rounds and an improvised explosive device (IED) to a room of a suspect's deaf-mute daughter. After that, her brother signed a confession under torture.

Mutsalali Murtazaliev has also added that his family members are religious and that his son called on people to adhere to the norms of Islam.

Mothers of four young people, who appeared to be among those who were massively detained in Kaspiysk in September 2017, associated their detentions with an attack on a policeman on August 28.

All participants of the press conference have emphasized they trust only Russian President Vladimir Putin. They have noted they do not want the local law enforcement bodies to investigate their sons' cases.