Dagestani gay Magomed Askhabov complains about investigators' inaction after torture

Two months have passed since Magomed Askhabov filed a complaint about being tortured when at the rehabilitation centre (rehab) in Khasavyurt, where he was forcibly kept and "treated" for his homosexuality, but there has been no reaction. Askhabov filed a complaint with the court.

Magomed Askhabov, a Dagestani, who fled from his relatives, who had sent him to "treat" for his homosexuality at the above rehab for drug addicts, said that he left Russia. He said that physical and psychological torture was used in the rehab. On July 18, Askhabov filed an application with the prosecutor's office against the rehab, stating that he and other patients of the rehab were forced to carry weights; they hung them by hands to the bars and used other violent practices that were presented as some medical treatment practices.

On October 18, Askhabov sent a complaint to the Khasavyurt City Court. He demanded to declare the investigator's inaction as illegal, since the latter had failed to react to his complaint about his torture at the rehab for two months, the SK SOS** Crisis Group has reported.

The applicant has demanded to treat the investigator's inaction as unlawful and oblige him through the court to start a pre-investigation check.

At the rehab, where Askhabov ended up, the patients were forced to sign an agreement; they were made volunteers, Svetlana Anokhina, a journalist, has explained. The activities of such rehabs are practically not controlled; such institutions need no licenses, Osip Drozdovsky, a lawyer, has noted. Askhabov may not be the only victim, Evgeny Chernousov, a lawyer, believes.