Victims of "clean-up" operation still not released
Of six Chechen residents of the village of Duba-Yurt in Shali region detained
by federal troops last week, only three were released on April 14. Relatives of
the detained learned they were taken to the Shali regional police department.
Though ten days already passed since the day of their arrest no charges
have been yet brought against the three young Chechen males that remain
in police custody.
The "sweep-up" operation in Duba-Yurt began at 4.30 am on April 6. Mask-wearing
soldiers burst into villagers' homes and, without identifying themselves and without
explanations, seized Chechens. On that day they took away to an unknown destination
Said-Hussein Islamov, Muslim Begichev, Iles Gapurov, Sharpudi Magomadov, and the
Mezhidov brothers, Saipudi and Dzhamalail.
Due to prompt actions, their relatives managed with the help of the head
of the village administration to locate them. A week later Islamov, Begichev and
Gapurov were released from the Shali police station. They claimed to have been
severely beaten. Law enforcement officials told their relatives that the young
Chechens had been detained because their names were mentioned in some papers received
from the town of Khasavyurt in Dagestan. They alleged that law enforcement
agents in Khasavyurt have detained a criminal group that mentioned in their
testimonies these Chechens. Magomadov and the two Mezhidov brothers remain in
police
custody though no charges have been raised against them.