Prisoner denied medical attention

One of the suspects in the murder of prominent Russian political activist Boris Nemtsov has complained of being denied adequate medical treatment by the authorities and other ill-treatment during his arrest and detention, raising fair trial concerns.

Tamerlan Eskerkhanov, one of the five core suspects in the murder of political activist Boris Nemtsov in Russia, was apprehended by police on 7 March 2015 in a private home in Moscow and placed in detention. He was remanded in custody by the decision of the Basmanny District Court the following morning.

Tamerlan Eskerkhanov’s lawyer told Amnesty International that she was denied access to her client during the first week of his detention. According to her, the authorities have also been denying him the medical treatment he requires. He suffers from a dysfunctional kidney as a result of an accident which took place while he was serving in the police in 2007, and for which he requires special medication. The lawyer repeatedly attempted to pass the necessary medication to her client, but the detention centre administration only permitted this two weeks after his arrest. Tamerlan Eskerkhanov also suffers from a chronic condition in his coccyx which has deteriorated since his arrest and for which, according to his lawyer, he now requires surgical treatment.

Due to his deteriorating health, Tamerlan Eskerkhanov fell ill during a court hearing on 24 April. An ambulance was called and the hearing was interrupted. According to the lawyer, the medics insisted that he needed urgent treatment but the judge decided to proceed with the hearing.

Tamerlan Eskerkhanov has also complained that for the first two days after his arrest he was denied sleep, water and food. He has also claimed that during a transfer from the detention facility to the court, a police officer set fire to his beard, and that police officers tightened his handcuffs till his wrists hurt and verbally insulted him and his wife. Moreover, he claimed that during the strip search in the court building, police officers took pictures of him naked on their mobile phones.

Tamerlan Eskerkhanov has been repeatedly transferred between different detention facilities and is currently held in the pre-trial detention facility FKU SIZO No.6 in Moscow.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Boris Nemtsov, once recognised a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International when he was serving his «administrative detention» in January 2011 following his peaceful street protest, was shot and killed on 27 February 2015 in central Moscow (see additional information here: https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/news/2015/02/russia-murder-of-boris-nemtsov-must-be-meaningfully-investigated/). His killer escaped from the scene. The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, stated that he would personally oversee the progress over the investigation.
In March 2015, Moscow’s Basmannyi Court authorized the arrest of five suspects, Zaur Dadayev, Anzor Gubashev, Shaghid Gubashev, Khamzat Bakhayev and Tamerlan Eskerkhanov. Members of the Public Monitoring Commission, Eva Merkacheva and Andrei Babushkin, visited them in detention on 10 March and reported allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of Zaur Dadayev and Shaghid Gubashev. In response, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation suggested that raising allegations may have amounted to «interference with the work of investigator with the purpose of preventing a comprehensive, full and objective investigation of the case». The threat to bring criminal charges against the two human rights activists raised alarming questions over the fairness of the investigation (see here for more details: https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/news/2015/03/russian-activists-threatened-with-criminal-charges-after-raising-torture-allegations/), as do the allegations of ill-treatment of suspects in this case unless these are promptly, fully, effectively and impartially investigated.

Name: Tamerlan Eskerkhanov