Witness in case of Murat Borlakov's death testifies against policemen

Murat Karaketov, the former chief of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ust-Djeguta ROVD (District Interior Division), and two of his employees tried to "hush up" the case of causing grievous bodily harm to detained Murat Borlakov that resulted in his death. This was told at the court session by a friend of the victim.

On February 3, 2014, Murat Borlakov, a resident of Karachay-Cherkessia, and his two friends were brought to the ROVD of the Ust-Djeguta District. He died in one hour after his arrest. According to his friends, Murat Borlakov was tortured.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that five policemen became defendants in the case of the Murat Borlakov's death on February 3, 2014.

At the court session held on July 9, the Ust-Djeguta District Court questioned a friend of Murat Borlakov, who testified that on the day of the Murat Borlakov's death, Murat Karaketov and two other staff members of the ROVD met the witness in order to prevent Borlakov from testifying on the use of violence against him. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by advocate Pavel Misharin, who represented the interests of the victims.

Besides, according to the advocate, the Court has questioned witness Balachiev, who saw the detention of three friends. Balachiev has testified that "during the detention, several shots were made, and violence was used against the detainees: they were handcuffed, their hands were twisted behind their backs, and they were beaten with batons at the same time."

Pavel Misharin has also mentioned that the accused policemen denied the above accusations and claimed that they used no violence and batons, did not handcuff the detainees and made no shots.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.