Rights defenders report torture of detainees at Taganrog SIZO

No less than seven inmates kept at the Taganrog SIZO (pre-trial prison) are being tortured to extract confessions within the case of the riot at the Rostov SIZO; and Muslims are prohibited from practicing their religion.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 12, 2024, it became known that Magomed Alkhanov, a figurant in the case of the attack on Pskov paratroopers, and two other natives of Chechnya, as well as one native of Dagestan, had been transferred from the Rostov SIZO after the hostage-taking was committed there. Alkhanov and the other detainees are not allowed to see an advocate; and human rights defenders believe that they were tortured. On August 23, the defence learned that Alkhanov was accused of organizing an escape from the SIZO.

Relatives report that inmates are being tortured – they are being forced to confess to complicity in the escape from the Rostov SIZO and to tell which of the SIZO staff had helped organize the escape, the "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD)* has reported.

Earlier, all the inmates claimed that they were not involved in the incident and did not even leave their cells on the day of the escape, but when they occurred at the Taganrog SIZO, they confessed.

According to human rights defenders, at first they knocked confessions out of them about their complicity in the escape, and now they are trying to obtain "proofs" against SIZO employees.

Apart from physical violence, the inmates are forbidden to pray and pronounce any words related to Islam. In protest, many prisoners have injured themselves.

*As reported on the website of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the reason for including on March 1, 2024, the unregistered "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD) into the roster of foreign agents was the spread of "inaccurate information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian Armed Forces."