Zarifa Sautieva tells about law enforcers' pressure and awful custody conditions at SIZO

After detention, law enforcers hinted about torture, seeking the necessary testimonies, Zarifa Sautieva said in her last plea at the Essentuki City Court, stressing that she had committed nothing illegal. She also treated the custody conditions at the Pyatigorsk SIZO (pre-trial prison) as awful.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 23, the Ingush activists accused of creating an extremist community delivered their last pleas at the Essentuki City Court.

In her last plea, Zarifa Sautieva told about how she was intimidated by law enforcers who detained her in July 2019. They hinted about torture and pressed her in every possible way, trying to force her to give the testimonies they needed. "And disrespect for the court sounded like a red thread in their speeches. They said: 'You don't hope for the court, no one ... will acquit you; judges are on our hook; they'll always do what they are told to.' I didn't believe in it; it seemed absurd to me. Why should I be tried? I was sure of it then, and am now that I had done nothing illegal," Ms Sautieva has stated.

She treated the conditions in which women are kept at the Pyatigorsk SIZO as awful. "I've been in jail for 2.5 years, and I constantly see how laws are being violated there," the defendant has added.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 23, 2021 at 08:10 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.