Ingushetia: Security service men abduct and beat human rights activist

Zurab Tsechoyev from the Ingushetia human rights organization “Mashr”, who was abducted on Friday morning has been released. “Memorial” reports that at around midday he was thrown from a car by an unidentified enforcement structure a few kilometres from the capital of Ingushetia.

Tsechoyev was seized at around 6 a.m. Oleg Orlov, Head of Memorial reports that six vehicles arrived at his home and around fifty men in camouflage and with weapons got out and began banging on the gates of the house. Zurab himself came out and was immediately thrown on the ground with a weapon placed up against him.  They also searched his house, as Orlov stresses with no grounds for this whatsoever.

Memorial reports that his computer was returned as well as his mobile telephones. He was severely beaten and found it hard to move. After being flung out of the car, he managed to contact the head of “Mashr” and tell him where he was.

Zurab Tsechoyev says that during their questioning of him, his abductors accused him of having sent to the website Ingushetia.RU lists with addresses of officers of the law enforcement agencies. He categorically denied this and said that he had no connection with either the lists or with the website. They then began beating him.

Memorial stresses that this is not the first time there has been such abductions. As reported here, in winter last year the Head of Memorial’s Council Oleg Orlov was abducted, together with three journalists from the television company Ren-TV.