October 22, 2001

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On the night of October 22, the village of Mayrtup came under mortar fire. As a result, two houses of the Atakaevs were partially destroyed. Two cows were killed in the courtyard of the Shaparovs' house. There were no casualties among local residents. In the morning, the victims filed a complaint with the commandant. He offered to bring fragments, according to the numbers of which it would allegedly be possible to determine from the territory of which military unit the mines were fired. The Mayrtupians did just that, but it did not change the situation. The shelling of this settlement is so frequent that people living on the outskirts were forced to go down to the basements at night.

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In the village of Alkhazurovo, officers of the VOVD of the Urus-Martan district detained 34-year-old Khasan Magomedovich Dadaev. A search was carried out in his house (Sheripova St., 35) in gross violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Khasan Dadaev was beaten and then illegally detained for two days.

Khasan Dadaev says:
“Until the evening of October 22, I was tending a rural herd to pasture. I returned home tired. After eating, I decided to rest. I went into the room where there was a TV. The film “Eternal Call” was just showing. I sat down on the sofa and started watching it. In the house were Marjane, my elderly mother, and my wife with two young children.

Suddenly a noise was heard from the yard. Someone rudely opened the gate. I jumped out of the house and saw soldiers running towards me shouting: “Stop... lie down... motherfucker...” Following them, an armored personnel carrier and a UAZ drove into the yard. A blow to the head from a rifle butt knocked me to the ground in front of the porch of the house. I fell face down on the ground. A military man stood over me. The rest fled across the yard and into the rooms. Then I heard only the noise of falling things in the house, the screams of my mother and wife, and the crying of children.
The search lasted 30-40 minutes. All this time they did not tell me what I was suspected of, what power structure the military belonged to. They also did not show any documents authorizing the search.

They took me to the car. I was barefoot, but they didn’t let me put on shoes. They put me on the seat. The interrogation began right in the interior of the UAZ. Two people were interrogated. The military showed our family album. They demanded to see the brothers. I showed it. One of the security officers suddenly noticed that I was sitting on the seat and shouted: “Are you sitting down, you bastard? On your knees, in the corner. We know where we have arrived. Tell me where you buried the weapon. I give you my word of honor, I will release you right now.” I replied that to tell the truth, I don’t have a weapon. The “feds” started beating me, some with their fists, some with their butts. Having stopped the beatings, the interrogation resumed. I asked what they wanted to know. The truth or what is beneficial for them to hear from me? “The truth,” the military answered. I repeated again that I have no weapons and no other truth. Again blows rained down, and again they offered to show the place where the weapons were allegedly buried. Otherwise, they threatened to shoot “if you try to escape.”

I had nothing to say. I was silent. And they continued to say that I had no choice, that if they found a weapon on me, no one would envy me. I said that I am not against execution if they find a weapon. To which the “federal” said: “I won’t shoot you, but I’ll send you to a colony for six years to...”. What followed was pure swearing.
Having laid me on the floor of the car, the security forces drove off. I felt that they were taking me towards Urus-Martan. About five minutes later there was an explosion. One of the soldiers said: “Wow, that’s a bang.” They jumped out of the car, leaving me, lay down in a roadside ditch and opened random fire in the direction of the village of Komsomolskoye (Goy-Chu). Spent cartridges began to fly into the open car door. Then it occurred to me that they might actually kill me. Or it will be done by those who fire at them. And he asked permission to hide. One didn't allow it. He called me a bastard again. But the second one allowed it, and I lay down next to him.

The security forces told each other that they were shooting from somewhere. But no one shot at them. One of them approached the UAZ, took a video camera and began filming. I realized that the “federals” themselves staged a show with an explosion and shooting, creating the appearance of a battle. They continued to laugh and joke that this was a gift before demobilization.

I noticed that those with whom I was lying were Bashkirs. So, from the VOVD, I decided to myself, since the temporary department was staffed by workers from this republic. Finally they stopped shooting. They asked me: “What is your job?” “How can this be my job when I’m lying with you,” I replied. In response, they kicked me in the face. Another soldier approached, also with the intention of striking. But he was stopped by the person sitting in front. He told them to stop making fun of me. They stopped beating. I was ordered to lie face down on the ground with my hands behind my head. I had to lie down as they ordered. But I managed to notice the figure of a man in civilian clothes ahead. He was led by two military men. I raised my head, but immediately received two blows with the butt. “If you raise your head again, we’ll kill you,” they threatened me and pulled my own shirt over my head, which they then tied with a rope around my neck. I didn't see anything further.

Soon they picked me up again and led me to the car. They again ordered me to lie down. But there was someone's body below. I thought it was probably the civilian I didn’t have time to see. The car started moving. The military told someone that he was “khanna” and that he could hang himself. I was silent. But they hit me on the head with a butt again: “Why are you silent?” “I didn’t know who you were addressing—me or the one lying underneath me,” I said. And they “explained” to me that it was I who should “hang myself.”
The car has arrived somewhere. They took me into a building and stood me against the wall, forcing me to spread my legs wide apart and put my hands behind my head. People were walking behind me, and I realized that I was standing in the corridor. But we didn’t have to stand for long. The interrogation began. The questions were the same as before. But this time they hit harder. Mainly on the kidneys and between the legs. The interrogation lasted two hours. The military took turns beating.

After beating me, they took me away and threw me into a cell. No one called me or interrogated me again. Two days later they released me. It turned out that they kept me in a boarding school where a temporary department was located.

Returning home, I learned that during a search in my house, the “federals” stole: 9,500 rubles, a women’s gold watch with a gold bracelet, a women’s gold chain weighing 50 grams, scales worth 1,500 rubles, a set of tools, a women’s leather jacket.
On October 26, I went to the Urus-Martan central district hospital and had an appointment with traumatologist V.S. Tagirov, who examined the injuries I received.”

When conducting a search and detaining Khasan Dadaev, police officers violated the requirements of several articles of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR, establishing the grounds and procedure for conducting a search (168-171, 176, etc.). Moreover, their actions also showed signs of crimes provided for in articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: 139 (violation of the inviolability of the home), 301 (illegal detention, detention or detention), 302 (coercion to testify) and 158 (theft).

From the book “People Live Here”, Usam Baysaev, Dmitry Grushkin, 2006.