15:48, 17 August 2023

Man arrested for burning Koran complains about beating up by Kadyrov's son

Photo: Dmitry Rogulin https://www.grozny-inform.ru

Nikita Zhuravel, arrested within the case of burning down the Koran, has stated that he was beaten up by the son of the head of Chechnya at the Grozny SIZO (pre-trial prison), Tatiana Moskalkova, the Russian Ombudsperson, has reported.

On May 20, 2023, Nikita Zhuravel, a local resident, was detained in Volgograd; he had recorded a video with the burning of the Koran. During the interrogation, he stated that he had done it at the direction of Ukrainian special services. The head of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) ordered that Zhuravel's case be transferred to Chechnya, explaining this by appeals from residents of Chechnya, who asked to be recognized as the injured party. On May 27, Zhuravel was taken to the SIZO in Grozny. On June 13, Vladimir Putin announced that Zhuravel would serve his sentence in one of the Muslim regions.

Let us remind you that the decision to transfer the case to Chechnya is not only against the law, but also creates a risk of torture for the above Volgograd citizen and a threat to his life, lawyers have pointed out. The consideration of the case in Chechnya may lead to more severe punishment, Valentin Bogdan, a human rights defender, believes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 16, 2023 at 02:46 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: Caucasian Knot