A Chechen with British citizenship was kidnapped and tortured to confess to espionage

A British citizen of Chechen origin, Magomed Abubakarov, came to Urus-Martan in 2023 on family matters. According to the "Team Against Torture", the police began looking for him a few weeks later - allegedly because of his previous conviction for banditry. On May 30, the man was taken from his home to the police station, where he voluntarily handed over his documents and phone with access data to law enforcement officers.

Abubakarov spent almost a month at the station. During this time, his stay there was not registered and no charges were brought against him. At the same time, the man was kept in the basement and interrogated by an FSB officer.

"I was repeatedly beaten, shocked, and demanded that I confess to involvement in an armed group and an attempt on the lives of military personnel in Urus-Martan in 2009. "I refused to confess to anything," Abubakarov shared.

Eventually, the Chechen was released without returning the confiscated items. He managed to get his documents back only in October. When he tried to leave, the man was detained at the border in Grozny and taken to a room where an FSB officer he already knew was waiting for him. The man's documents were taken away again and he was told that he had to take a polygraph.

Abubakarov was interrogated for several months, and he had to hire a lawyer.

On April 4 of this year, several cars with police officers drove up to his house, the man was shot in the leg, and then taken to the hospital for surgery. When Magomed came to, about five people in civilian clothes visited him - they began to accuse him of espionage.

"The officer punched me in the face, head, groin. My left leg was in traction, and he pulled it. He demanded that I confess that I was a British intelligence agent. This went on for about three hours. I screamed, but I could not resist. The man who beat me said that he was not finished with me and would be back," Abubakarov said.

After another operation on his leg, another alleged FSB officer entered the ward and began asking questions about espionage, also accompanying the interrogation with torture and humiliation. According to Magomed, no medical personnel entered the ward, despite his screams. The man remembered that the security officer demanded that he tell about a certain Sergey from Ukraine, for whom he allegedly worked. Abubakarov refused to confess to anything.

Subsequently, the Chechen was taken to the Pyatigorsk pretrial detention center, where he is still being held as an accused of attempting to kill security officials. According to investigators, he resisted and fired during the arrest.

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