Human rights defenders report details of kidnapping of Dagestani native Abakarov

Before the disappearance of Timurlan Abakarov, law enforcers tried to force him to testify against a person unknown to him, relatives of the Makhachkala resident told the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”*. According to the unofficial information, Timurlan Abakarov was detained along with another local resident.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that Timurlan Abakarov has not been in contact since July 28, and extremist posts appear on his page on a social media platform. The family members of Timurlan Abakarov suggest that the law enforcers are fabricating a criminal case against him.

A female relative of Timurlan Abakarov fears that he is being subjected to torture. She suggested that her brother was on the police preventive registration list. The young woman associates that with the fact that Amin, a Timurlan’s acquaintance, left for Syria in 2019 and joined militants. After leaving, Amin continued to communicate with Timurlan, called him to Syria, but Timurlan did not share his ideas and was not going to leave for Syria, the cousin emphasizes. Amin was killed in Syria soon.

Two weeks before his disappearance, Timurlan Abakarov told his cousin that law enforcers tried to force him to cooperation and threatened that otherwise he would go to jail.

On July 23, a man who introduced himself as an employee of a law enforcement body made an appointment for Timurlan Abakarov and said that communication with a militant threatened him with criminal prosecution. He assured Timurlan that he wanted to help him and offered to sign some documents. The young man refused, and after that the law enforcer resorted to threats. Timurlan Abakarov still refused to put his signature under any documents, and several days later he disappeared without a trace.

The organization is included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the “Register of non-profit organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent”.