Rights defender challenge termination of Kuchmenov's torture case

There are many contradictions in the case of torturing Rustam Kuchmenov, a resident of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), the lawyers of the Committee against Torture (CaT) have noted and sent a complaint against the dismissal of the case to the court. Kuchmenov's father told about signs of beatings on his son's body and noted that this is not the first incident involving law enforcers.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in December 2017, Rustam Kuchmenov turned to human rights defenders with a complaint of torture after his detention. He recognized five law enforcers involved, but not one of them was removed from office. In November 2019, the court sentenced Kuchmenov to six years in prison on charges of a theft.

According to Kuchmenov, after he refused to slander himself, law enforcers roped his hands and feet, and attached a wire with metal clothespins to his body. One of law enforcers pressed his head with his foot to the floor, while the other held him immobilized.

According to Rustam, he was tortured with electricity and forced to confess to committing a theft, from which he lost consciousness several times. Besides, as he said, they pierced his hip with an awl.

Magomed Alamov, a CaT's lawyer, believes that the decision to terminate the criminal case on the fact of torture is unjustified.