Source: Human Rights Watch

Investigate Suspects’ Abuse Claims, End Effort to Disbar Lawyer


(Moscow) – Two suspects in the St. Petersburg suicide bombing of April 3, 2017, have made credible allegations that Russian security agents forcibly disappeared them, tortured them, then staged their arrests, Human Rights Watch said today. Instead of effectively investigating these allegations, Russian authorities are threatening to disbar one of the suspect’s lawyers for refusing to turn over confidential communications with her client. The authorities should immediately stop threatening her and conduct an effective independent investigation into the abuse allegations.

Olga Dinze, the lawyer, told Human Rights Watch that the Justice Ministry ordered Russia’s bar association to hold a hearing on disbarring her for refusing to give government officials notes that her client wrote her during a confidential prison meeting in August. Dinze said she suspects the government is retaliating for the complaint she filed for her client, Akram Azimov, 29, and his brother, Abror Azimov, 26, who say they were held and severely tortured in a secret detention center apparently run by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in or near Moscow. [Read more]