Russian law enforcement agencies have claimed that members of the Batalkhadzhin Sufi community were linked to the Caucasus Emirate*, a militant Islamist organisation. Human rights advocates, however, have questioned the allegations, noting that the group effectively ceased to exist more than a decade ago and that publicly available case materials contain little evidence of specific acts of support for militants.
Ingush Timur Tumgoev, serving a life sentence in IK-5 in the Vologda region, was again in solitary confinement and attempted suicide. He cut his veins and swallowed sharp objects.
According to Tumgoev, prison staff are threatening to kill him in a "cold cell." In May, he was briefly released from the EPCT, where he was placed for six months for "insulting" an employee of another prison (IK-12). The reasons for his current confinement in solitary confinement are unknown. It is reported that his prayer mat was also taken away.
Tumgoev previously went on a hunger strike and stitched his mouth shut in protest. Now he is being denied medical care, his injuries are being ignored, and he is not allowed to meet with his lawyer or relatives. The prisoner claims that prison staff are threatening his life. Tumgoev's relatives are demanding urgent hospitalization and access to a lawyer, stressing that silence is tantamount to complicity.
Timur Tumgoev was sentenced to 18 years in prison in June 2019 on charges of participating in the war in Syria on the side of ISIS. He was deported to Russia from Ukraine, where, according to media reports, he fought as part of the Sheikh Mansur volunteer battalion in Donbas. Tumgoev denies his involvement in the Syrian conflict and claims that he was tortured in custody.