Islam Gugov's father complains to court about blackmail from law enforcers

At trial, a father of Islam Gugov said that law enforcers threatened a resident of Kabardino-Balkaria, accused of connections with Syrian militants, with new criminal proceedings against him and demanded from him to testify against Alim Sultanov.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in Rostov-on-Don, the North-Caucasian District Military Court considers the case against Islam Gugov, a resident of Baksan, accused of involvement in the activities of a terrorist organization and training in terrorist activities. Islam Gugov pleaded not guilty.

On August 16, a regular court hearing was held in the Islam Gugov's case. The main part of the court hearing was devoted to the questioning of Anzor Gugov, a defendant's father.

Anzor Gugov said that in October 2016, when his son was kept in the SIZO (pre-trial prison) in the first case against him, law enforcers threatened him with new criminal proceedings and demanded from him "to testify against Alim Sultanov."

In December 2017, Alim Sultanov, a resident of Nalchik, was sentenced to 17 years of imprisonment. The court found him guilty of involvement in a terrorist organization in the territory of Syria. On August 7, the court's verdict was upheld.

Anzor Gugov said that when he visited his son in the SIZO and they were alone, Islam claimed he did not know Alim Sultanov and he could not "defame a stranger," although he had been "several times visited with such a proposal."

The witness claimed that he and his relatives were promised "great problems for the Gugov family" and "new criminal proceedings." Several months later, Anzor Gugov learned of a new criminal case against his son.

According to the father, until that day, he was not aware of the Alim Sultanov's case.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 17, 2018 at 11:42 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.