Today, on 19 January 2015, lawyers of INGO «The Committee Against Torture» came to the Leninsky District Court of Grozny to take part in examination of charge of the Ministry of Interior of Chechnya to defend the honor and dignity against Murad Amriyev who accuses the police officers of abduction and torture, as well as against our organization. However, the representatives of the republican Ministry of Interior did not show up at court again. Next court hearing is scheduled for 9 February 2015. The case is examined by federal judge Akhmed Bashuyev.
(Photo: lawyer of the Committee Against Torture Anton Ryzhov in the Leninsky District Court of Grozny)
Previously the Ministry of Interior of Chechnya applied to the court of Grozny filing a charge to defend its honor and dignity against Murad Amriyev, making a claim for compensation for moral damages. A year ago Murad applied to the Joint Mobile Group with a complaint about illegal use of force and torture against him by the police officers. According to the applicant, the reason for submitting statements of claim to the court is that, allegedly, Murad Amriyev made public the data which became a base for a number of publications in the media.
As we have already informed, Murad Amriev applied to human rights defenders with the Joint Mobile Group in Chechnya (JMG) for legal assistance in September 2013. According to Murad, on 25 August of last year he was abducted and tortured for two days in the building of the Department of Interior in Grozny in Isayeva avenue: he was beaten up, tortured with electricity, hanged from the ceiling and humiliated. He also told that one of his abductors was Magomed Dashayev – Chief of Police of the Department of Interior of Grozny. The police officer suspected the elder brother of Amriyev (who now lives in Germany) of attempting to kill him in 2008. The police demanded from Murad and his family that the elder brother returned home, otherwise the young sportsman would be held responsible for the assassination attempt (Murad is professionally involved in Mixed Martial Arts, recently he became a world champion of MMA according to World Mixed Martial Arts Federation). Under apprehension of his life the young man had to flee out of Russia.
On 29 August 2013 the crime report based on this fact was submitted to the investigative department of the Investigative Committee for the Chechen Republic. Investigation is still ongoing: the Investigative Committee conducts formal checks, ending in ungrounded refusals to initiate criminal proceedings, subsequently quashed by the Prosecutor’s Office, the court, and even the management of the investigative authorities. As of today 12 refusals to initiate criminal proceedings have been issued, the last is dated 6 November 2014.
Meanwhile the representatives of the Department of Interior for the Chechen Republic applied to the court charging Murad Amriyev to defend their honor and dignity. However, none of them attended the scheduled hearings. As a result, on 9 October the court dismissed the charge without prejudice due to the fact that the plaintiff did not attend the court hearings, although he was notified in due course about the time, date and location of the case examination.
But two months later, on 8 December the Leninsky District Court without reservation satisfied the application of the plaintiff on quashing the dismissal without prejudice.
In the course of the hearing which took place on 5 December of last year the representative of the Interior Department for the Chechen Republic filed a motion requesting to name INGO «The Committee Against Torture» as another defendant, calling his motion a «reference to a statement of claim». The complainant asked the court to compel the Committee Against the Torture to deny the information published on the web site of this organization as not reflecting the reality and discrediting business reputation of the Chechen Ministry of Interior.
The complainant representative stated that during the next hearing he intended to file a similar charge against the website Grani.ru in relation to the publication «Grozny citizen accused of torture a high-ranking official of the Chechen Ministry of Interior».
«Once again the representatives of the Ministry of Interior due to some reasons unknown to us don’t come to court for examination of their own charge, and meanwhile we attend every single court hearing, traveling from other regions of Russia. In my opinion the Chechen police representatives have to decide whether they want court proceedings or they don’t», – emphasized lawyer of INGO «The Committee Against Torture» and Amriyevs’ representative Anton Ryzhov, who was present today at the Leninsky District Court of Grozny.
Next court hearing is scheduled for 9 February 2015 at 10 a.m.