Rights defenders treat case of Chechen actor Debishev as investigators' escape from responsibility

The case of the Chechen actor, Timur Debishev, who is trying to bring law enforcers to justice for torture, but because of the investigation, cannot reach the consideration of his complaint in court, is typical for Chechnya and other Russian regions, human rights defenders assert.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 8, the Chechen Branch of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) refused to open a case on Mr Debishev's application about his beating up and torturing by law enforcers. A lawyer of the "Team against Torture"* has explained that this was already the fourth attempt to force the court to consider the Debishev's complaint about the refusal to initiate a criminal case.

Oleg Orlov, a board member of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"**, treats Debishev's case as an example of how "the ICRF, not wanting to initiate a case, evades consideration of a complaint in court." According to Mr Orlov, this is typical not only for Chechnya, but for Russia in general.

Svetlana Gannushkina, the chair of the "Civic Assistance" Committee***, has noted that a legal mechanism is needed to protect against such investigators' actions.

Timur Debishev himself has noted that law enforcers had not yet put pressure on him; and there were no threats to his relatives.