18 April 2023, 23:13
Apti Visaev, native of Chechnya, complains about custody conditions at Khabarovsk SIZO
There is no ventilation in the cell of the Khabarovsk SIZO (pre-trial prison); there is a terrible smell, and it's impossible to sleep on a thin mattress, Apti Visaev, a native of Chechnya, who is accused of plotting a terror act, has stated. His wife has added that the court would not attach the result of an independent examination, which proves Visaev's innocence to the case files.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in August 2021, Aisha Mutaeva, the wife of the 36-year-old Apti Visaev, reported that investigators were putting pressure on him. In December 2022, Visaev said that, without explanations, he was transferred to a special SIZO block, where he did not receive the necessary medical care in full.
In April 2021, Visaev and his family went to Pyatigorsk, where he planned to stay in order to treat his children. He was detained there and later arrested on charges of inciting terrorist activities and aiding terrorism. The criminal case is based on the testimonies of two secret witnesses. According to investigators, Visaev persuaded one of them to blow himself up at the May 9 parade in Norilsk.
In a letter to his wife, Visaev said that he had been transferred to a 6-square-meter cell. "The conditions are terrible ... There is no ventilation in the cell, and if someone goes to the toilet, there is a terrible smell," the "Kavkaz.Realii"* has quoted his letter.
Visaev claims that the mattress in his bed is so thin that he actually sleeps on iron bars.
Let us remind you that on November 22, 2021, a video message by Aisha Mutaeva was posted, in which she claimed that Apti Visaev could not plan a terror act in Norilsk on the Victory Day (May 9), since all public events in the city were cancelled due to the pandemic. In their turn, Igor Kalyapin and Oyub Titiev, human rights defenders, assert that the persecution of Visaev has to do with the fact that he had been convicted of his links with Chechen militants.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 18, 2023 at 04:46 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: Caucasian Knot
