14 December 2020, 21:13
Chechen law enforcers get suspended sentences for illegal detention of Dagestani resident
In Gudermes, a court found Bekkhan Abdurashidov and Aslan Dukaev, former fighters of the National Guard of Russia, guilty of illegally detaining Alexei Kardashov, a resident of Dagestan, who disappeared after the detention. Each of the law enforcers was sentenced to 3.5 years of suspended imprisonment, and human rights defenders consider the above sentence to be too lenient.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 14, 2017, Alexei Kardashov, a resident of Khasavyurt, left home and never returned. Investigators suggest he had been killed, although the dead body was not found. In March 2019, two Chechen law enforcers were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping Alexei Kardashov and abusing power with the use of violence.
The criminal proceedings were based on the testimony of Said-Magomed Omarov. However, after the transfer of the criminal case to Chechnya, he suddenly signed a confession. On November 23, the court found him guilty of killing Alexei Kardashov and stealing a car from the entrepreneur. The Committee Against Torture (CaT) states that the guilt of Said-Magomed Omarov has not been proven.
Dmitry Piskunov, the head of the CaT's North-Caucasian branch, explains that the human rights defenders are seeking to unite the criminal case with the Said-Magomed Omarov's case, as well as with the case against two other Chechen law enforcers and the case against an unidentified person suspected of stealing money from an Alexei Kardashov's bank card. "Only in case when the cases are combined, the court will have the full amount of evidence at its disposal and it will be able to make a fair decision," Dmitry Piskunov emphasized.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 14, 2020 at 02:02 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article click here.
