On August 1, the Visaitovsky District Court of Grozny terminated proceedings on the complaint of Salman Tepsurkaev's widow, whom the investigator refuses to recognize as a victim in the case of his abduction. The woman's interests are represented by lawyers from the "Team Against Torture".
Recall that 19-year-old Salman Tepsurkaev, a moderator of the opposition Telegram channel 1ADAT, was abducted, according to human rights activists, by security forces from Chechnya in Gelendzhik on September 6, 2020. The next day, a video of Salman's self-torture appeared on social networks.
In October 2021, the European Court of Human Rights found the Russian authorities responsible for the disappearance and torture of Chechen native Salman Tepsurkaev and ordered them to pay him 26 thousand euros in compensation. In its decision, the ECHR pointed out the violation of the Convention on Human Rights, in particular the prohibition of torture and the right to liberty and security of person. Two years after Tepsurkaev's disappearance, the "Team Against Torture" reported his death. Later, the head of the 1ADAT channel, Ibragim Yangulbaev, told the horrific details of his murder: "Salman was killed on September 15, 2020, at a military training ground in the village of Dzhalka, the ancestral village of Adam Delimkhanov. Salman was tied up, a grenade was inserted into his mouth and he was blown up from a distance... But even this was not enough for Kadyrov's vile criminals. They gave the body to relatives and told them to "bury him like a dog." Salman's body was buried in an unmarked grave," Ibragim Yangulbaev claimed. In its report on the human rights situation in the world in 2022, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) called Salman Tepsurkaev a victim of extrajudicial execution and noted that "the authorities have not opened an investigation into his disappearance or alleged torture and murder."
Tepsurkaev's father was forced to disown his son. His wife Elizaveta B., with the help of human rights activists from the "Team Against Torture", collected all the evidence of the kidnapping for the investigation: a video recording from the crime scene, the car number, the identities of the kidnappers. The geolocation of her husband's phone indicated that the day after the kidnapping, he was on the territory of the Kadyrov Special Police Regiment in Grozny.
After four decisions to refuse to initiate a criminal case, the materials were transferred to the place of the kidnapping - to the Krasnodar Territory. There, a criminal case was nevertheless initiated. However, Elizaveta was not recognized as a victim on the grounds that their marriage was concluded in a mosque, and not in a registry office.
With the help of lawyers from the "Team Against Torture", the woman is trying to obtain this status through the courts in order to have access to the investigation and materials of the criminal case. The courts of first instance in Grozny refused her three times, and each time the Supreme Court of the Republic overturned her complaints as unfounded. The fourth hearing took place on August 1. As reported on the website of the Visaitovsky District Court of Grozny, Judge Vladimir Khlystunov terminated the proceedings on the material. The interests of Elizaveta B. (at her request, her last name is not disclosed) were represented by KPP lawyer Ekaterina Vanslova.
In January, at a meeting of the Supreme Court of Chechnya, it became known that the investigation of the criminal case on the abduction of Tepsurkaev was suspended. The investigation allegedly carried out all the necessary investigative measures, but was unable to identify those involved in the abduction.
