15 October 2018, 20:01
AI: a rights defender kidnapped and subjected to mock executions in Ingushetia
Oleg Kozlovsky, an activist from the "Amnesty International" (AI), who arrived in Magas to monitor the protest action held by opponents of the change in the border with Chechnya, was kidnapped, beaten, and subjected to a staged execution. This was reported by the human rights organization.
The action in Magas is a unique example of the struggle of residents for their rights, activists from Kabardino-Balkaria told the "Caucasian Knot".
According to the AI, Oleg Kozlovsky, who arrived in Magas on October 5, was kidnapped and beaten by unidentified persons claiming to be law enforcers.
"He was stripped, threatened, beaten and abused in an ordeal that lasted two hours," the AI website reports. The kidnappers demanded from Oleg Kozlovsky to tell "who he was, what he did in Magas and with whom he cooperated."
After failing to force him to agree to be their informant, the men took Oleg Kozlovsky to the neighbouring Republic of North Ossetia and released him. Meanwhile, one of the men told him: "Never come back and don't write filth about Ingushetia."
Oleg Kozlovsky himself said that they put a gun to his head and told him they were going to kill him.
"They threatened to kill my wife and children if I reported what happened," said Oleg Kozlovsky.
"On the way, the kidnappers complained about how rights defenders prevented them from fighting crimes and how protesters on the street did not let them sleep," Oleg Kozlovsky wrote on Facebook.
Marie Struthers, the AI's Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, called the incident "disturbingly violent and shocking."
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 15, 2018 at 02:25 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
