- The Italian Newspaper Corriere della Sera Apologizes to a HRC Memorial Officer

A journalist from the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Andrea Nicastro, expressed his apologies to an officer of the HRC Memorial working in Chechnya, Dokka Itslaev, for misrepresenting his words in an interview: “In connection to your request directed to me concerning an article about the situation in Chechnya published under my name in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on 8 June of this year, I express my apologies that the text was not approved by you as we had previously agreed to do and that statements not made by you, were nevertheless attributed to you. I am grateful that you agreed to publicly discuss the human rights situation in Chechnya with the condition that your opinion would not appear in my article.

I regret what has happened due to rigid publication deadlines and I hope for our cooperation in the future.”

Earlier, Dokka Itslaev had sent the newspaper a letter which pointed out the inaccurate work of the journalist: “On 14 June 2010, in the Italian paper Corriere della Sera, an article “Chechnya: A Squeaky-Clean Dictatorship” appeared which described the situation in Chechnya. The article was then translated into Russian and appeared on the internet site, inosmi.ru (14.06.2010. Andrea Nikastro. “Chechnya: A Squeaky-Clean Dictatorship”). The article, in part, has quotes, allegedly cited from a conversation with me. Indeed I did meet with the Italian journalist. Indeed I spoke critically of the situation of human right violations in Chechnya. However, I am unfortunately forced to declare that some of my words in the article were presented with distortions, and some words I did not say at all. I would like to hope that this is not the result of some ill-intent, but simply a clerical mistake by the correspondent who has mistaken with whom and about what he has spoken. If the correspondent had sent me the interview to verify as he had promised to do during our conversation, these deplorable mistakes might have been corrected before publication.”

- A Lawyer, Sapiyat Magomedova, brutally beat by Police Officers in Dagestan: The Victim’s Testimonial

On 17 June 2010, a lawyer, Sapiyat Magomedova (D.O.B. 1979), was brutally beat at the Khasavyurt GOVD of Dagestan. The Human Rights Center Memorial has earlier reported about how detectives of the investigative committee under the prosecutor’s office of Khasavyurt threatened Magomedova and have tried to fabricate a criminal case against her.

According to Adilgerey Omarov, the chairwoman of the law firm “Omarov and Partners” (of which Sapiyat is also a member) Magomedova passed the security checkpoint of the police station around 16:00 having shown the proper authorization. She went up to the detective Zakir Stamulov’s office and requested to see her client Malika Evtomirova who had been arrested that day.

Magomedova had special authorization, because she had already worked with the client. In spite of this, the detective refused Sapiyat access to her client and summoned a police squad. After this, four police officers from a special purpose unit of the Khasavyurt GOVD began to viciously punch and kick the lawyer. The lawyer was dragged to the security checkpoint while unconscious and thrown out there. An ambulance was allowed to come to the security checkpoint (it was not allowed to go to the GOVD) and Sapiyat was taken to the Kasavyurt city hospital where she remained unconscious until the evening.

The HRC Memorial expresses extreme concern about the brutal beating of the lawyer S. Magomedova in the Khasavyurt GOVD and calls upon the prosecutor’s office and the President of Dagestan to assume control of the investigation of the beating of the young lady-lawyer.

The Testimonial of Sapiyat Magamedova

To the Chairman of the HRC Memorial, Orlov O.P.

To the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation, Lukin B.P.

To the Chairman of DROO MDZCH, Svetlana Isaeva

To the Chairwoman of the Board, Civil Assistance, Gannushkina S.A.

From Asvarova Nasiba, Residing in Derbent, Dagestan

Testimonial

I, Sapiyat Magomedova, write you with the testimonial concerning my beating. The circumstances were as such: sometime in the middle of April, relatives of Malika Evtemirova wrote me with the request to take on her case. The nature of the charges against Evtemirova were unclear, but the initial grounds was the accusation of a Khasavyurt highway patrol office that she had orchestrated his beating and stolen his registered weapon. Experiencing emotional distress, Evtemirova’s relatives hired me with the single desire to start an investigation of this case down the correct legal channels. Up to this point, numerous appeals by my client were simply not received. Evtemirova’s testimony that Khatsiev had threatened and blackmailed her in order to induce her to leave with him and that he had stolen expensive items and money from her was ignored. Finally, Evtimirova’s relatives sent a testimonial in a personalized letter. Sometime later, they turned to me with the request to make a contract as to the defence of Malika Evtemirova. I agreed and began to work.

According to my statement sent to Moscow, an examination was ordered. The detective of the investigative committee, Ammaev Osman worked on this case. We came to an agreement with him that, on date agreed to beforehand, I would bring my client in to be deposed after the weekend. The problem was that the Evtemirova family had a wedding that weekend (17 June 2010) and she could not be reached that day. We agreed to a later time with the intent to gather together on one day all of the witnesses of that which had happened with the Evtemirovas. However, the detective of the Khasavyurt OVD, Stambulov Zagir who was in charge of the criminal case for Khatsiev’s beating, worked counter to these plans. Whenever I ran into him, he received me with unprovoked aggression. At first, the detective refused to accept my authorization to defend Evtemirova. He then began to speak very rudely and insultingly about my client. He basically threatened that he would lock Evtemirova up no matter what. What’s more, according to him, Evtemirova had clearly already been found guilty. Speaking to me, he said, “Go and make your money, I’ll lock her up in any case. And don’t speak a lot around here.” Hearing this, I knew that the case would not be examined objectively. I told Stambulov that I would demand his recusal from the case. I then went to the chief of the detective department of the Khasavyurt OVD, Perichev Rashid, and, having explained my arguments against Stambulov, handed him my authorization to defend Evtemirova. He accepted it. We agreed that I would bring the defendant in after the wedding. He agreed to this.

However, on 17 June when the wedding procession with Evtemirova was passing the Khasavyurt highway checkpoint, a column of vehicles containing people in maskes blocked their way. Khatsiev pointed a gun towards the vehicle in which Malika was in and, while shouting obscenities at her, pulled her out of the car by her hair. Around ten OMON agents also participated in this illegal arrest. They did not show any kind of identification during the arrest. They pulled my client out of her vehicle very roughly and transferred her to their truck. After showing my legal license, I asked that I be allowed to accompany her and one of the Omon agents tried to hit me with the butt of his rifle. I didn’t stay to argue with them and returned to my car and went to the police station.

After calling the chief of the investigative unit, Perichev, I found out that he was not up to date on this arrest. I passed through the inside of the GOVD. When I reached the inner courtyard, I found the group of OMON agents who had arrested Malika, but they were without masks at this point. My cell phone rang at that moment and I answered. I lost them from my sight for just an instant. I suddenly felt how one of them had grabbled me by the shoulder. I caught hold of some bars. I heard obscenities directed at me and they dragged through the courtyard and hit me from time to time. I screamed and demanded that they stop beating me. I attempted to show my license but this was unnecessary.

They opened the door and threw me onto the asphalt. The main instigator of all this was the Commander of the SOG. They all were standing by and laughing. One of them flung my license at me. I got up and demanded that they allow me back in. The commander of the SOG then grabbed me by the neck and hit me up against the metal bar of the door. “Who do you want to see? Your client?” The men at the security checkpoint then started laughing and shouted: “At first, you didn’t want to leave and now you don’t want to go in!” They then pulled me back into the courtyard and began to beat me again. What’s more, golden articles, a pendant necklace and a bracelet, disappeared. People in a nearby café started raising a racket when they saw how I was being dragged around by strong men. One of the OMON agents then began to hit me in the face. If Rashid Perichev, who appeared at the checkpoint, had not intervened, the beating would not have ended. “Don’t you know that she is a lawyer! Release her immediately!” After Perichev, some large man came down and asked, while yelling, what was going on. After an explanation, his face changed and he took the SOG commander aside and ordered him to quickly write a report that I had allegedly attacked them. In order to call and ask for help, I approached on of the detectives. However, he rejected me in a rude manner. At the check-in desk, a worker in a mask informed me that “this was not a negotiater’s desk” and sent me off. I then coincidentally ran into an acquaintance who gave me his telephone and I called my colleagues. I then went to the office of the Khasavyurt OVD chief, Temirgereev Shamil and, cracking the door open, saw that the men who had beat me were sitting there as well as the man who advised the Omon agents to write a report against me. I exited. Perichev then appeared at the door. He quickly invited me into Temirgerev’s office. Acting as if he did not know who I was, he started to persuade me to make peace. I refused. When he found out that I had already spoken to the media, he drove me out of his office in a very rude manner. He said: “While I’m working here, not one of our officer will suffer!” After my conversation with him, I went again to Rashid Perichev’s office. There I made a few calls. My colleague Raisat Medzhidova came and, seeing me in the condition I was in, called an ambulance. When the ambulance arrived, it was not allowed to enter the station grounds. With general difficulty, The paramedics came a total of three times and three times they were turned back at the gate of the security checkpoint. I lost conscience multiple times in Perichev’s office. By this time, hundreds of my relatives had gathered at the security checkpoint gate.

They met the ambulance and called Medzhidova and asked to bring me out. Right then, after my relatives appeal, a detective from the Khasavyurt MPSO investigative unit, Khaibullaev Sakhratulla, appeared. He with others escorted me outside. While I was leaving, the officers of the OVD unexpectedly said: What could we do? The OVD chief ordered us to rough you up. He didn’t want you to see your client.”

I was taken to the hospital in a very poor condition and I hardly remember what what was happening around me until evening.

19 June 2010

Sapiyat Magomedova.

For further information: Memorial.