Investigators re-open case on attack on human rights defender in Dagestan

The investigation into a case on beating in Makhachkala of Sirazhudin Datsiev, an employee of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”*, has been resumed after the defence lodged a complaint to the court about the ineffective work of the investigators, human rights defenders report today.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that Sirazhudin Datsiev, the head of the HRC “Memorial”* office in Makhachkala, was beaten on March 28, 2018, and he stayed in hospital until April 4, 2018. The human rights defenders believe that law enforcers might be involved in the incident. The attack on Sirazhudin Datsiev was preceded by the arson of the car of the HRC “Memorial”* office, which took place on January 22, 2018.

On April 14, Shamil Magomedov, a lawyer representing the interests of Sirazhudin Datsiev, appealed to the Kirovsky District Court of Makhachkala and filed a complaint about the ineffective investigation into the case on beating of his client. On April 23, the Investigating Division within the Investigating Department of the Investigating Department for Makhachkala of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) issued a resolution to re-open the preliminary investigation into the case on beating of Sirazhudin Datsiev, the HRC “Memorial”* reports on its website today.

According to the defence, the case was investigated ineffectively and the investigators failed to take the necessary steps to identify the attackers. The investigators did not reveal the route of the car in which the attackers were travelling, no mobile phone billings along the route of the car were seized and examined, and the video records seized at the place of the attack were not studied. The trial on the complaint was scheduled for April 23. However, Murad Sadulaev, the deputy chief of the Investigating Division, resumed the investigation into the case before the start of the court hearing. In that regard, the court stopped proceedings on the complaint filed by lawyer Shamil Magomedov, the human rights defenders explained.

* 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”.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 27, 2021 at 01:52 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.