ICRF ignores experts' conclusions about torture of Grozny resident by law enforcers

Investigators have four times refused to initiate a criminal case on the application of Timur Debishev, an actor of the Grozny theatre, who claimed torture after his detention.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Timur Debishev, a 27-year-old actor of the Grozny Lermontov Russian Drama Theatre, turned to the Committee against Torture (CaT) after he was detained by law enforcers in November 2018. According to Debishev, law enforcers tortured him with electric shocks and beat him up, demanding to reveal his friends-drug addicts.

On September 24, Timur Debishev, who had left Chechnya after torture, recognized two rooms in a unit of one of the power structures of Grozny, where law enforcers had beaten him up. According to his story, operative agents brought him into these rooms; and there they tortured him on November 12-13, 2018.

According to the medical certificate dated November 14, 2018, Debishev had multiple bruised haematomas.

Later, another forensic medical examination was carried out at the "European Bureau of Forensic Experts" in Moscow – this organization has experience in identifying traumas received from electrical current. According to the conclusion of the forensic expert of December 4, 2018, Debishev had injuries on his fingers that could have been caused by electric current.

However, despite the conclusion of forensic experts, investigators have already four times refused to institute a criminal case on Debishev's torture, said Dmitry Piskunov, the head of the CaT's North-Caucasian branch.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 27, 2019 at 10:53 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.