Sentence of Dagestani natives Atimagomedov and Kuramagomedov upheld despite torture applications

The cassation instance has upheld the verdict to Magomed Atimagomedov and Daud Kuramagomedov, Dagestan natives, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a colony employee in Kalmykia. The instance has treated the convicts' arguments about self-incrimination under torture as unconvincing.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that this February, a court in Kalmykia found the above Magomed Atimagomedov and Daud (Davud) Kuramagomedov guilty of attempted escape, murder and attempted murder, and disruption of the colony work. Atimagomedov was sentenced to 25 years, and Kuramagomedov to life imprisonment. In April, Atimagomedov's sentence was also replaced by life imprisonment. Magomed Atimagomedov and Daud Kuramagomedov were accused in the summer of 2022 of attacking colony employees, one of whom died. According to their advocates, Atimagomedov and Kuramagomedov were brutally beaten in the colony and tortured; in particular, Atimagomedov was doused with boiling water, demanding that he sign the necessary testimony. Atimagomedov stated that he was not involved in the murder, and signed the testimony under pressure.

In his complaint, Kuramagomedov asked to mitigate his punishment, reporting "the use of violence against him in order to obtain the necessary testimony."

According to investigators, on August 5, 2022, two convicts attacked colony employees with a sharpened knife and rebar. One of the employees later died; the second was hospitalized in grave condition. Also, according to investigators, the convicts entered the dormitory and wounded six other colony employees.