A native of Chechnya again complained of threats and torture from security forces

The court in Grozny refused to consider Mehidi Timerbulatov’s complaint about the inaction of the prosecutor’s office regarding the use of unauthorized methods of inquiry and investigation by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After the appeal, the complaint was returned for reconsideration for the 80th time.

In his testimony, Timerbulatov reported that in 2001 he was kidnapped by security forces in the village of Belorechye (Ilaskhan-Yurt) and taken to a pre-trial detention center in Gudermes. His male and female relatives were also brought there. According to Mehidi, they beat him and also threatened to use violence against the woman to force him to confess to terrorist activities.

In 2004, Timerbulatov was sentenced to life in prison on charges of terrorist crimes. In 2020, the European Court of Human Rights identified violations in the consideration of complaints of torture and recognized violations in the consideration of complaints of torture and illegal detention against the convicted person and his relatives.