Amnesty says researcher abducted, beaten, subjected to mock execution in Russia

Rights group Amnesty International said Monday its researcher in Russia’s North Caucasus had been abducted and beaten while reporting on protests in the region.

Amnesty International said in a statement that Oleg Kozlovsky was abducted earlier this month by unknown men who said they were from Ingushetia’s anti-extremist unit and threatened to kill him unless he agreed to cooperate.

Kozlovsky was in Ingushetia’s regional capital Magas to cover protests against a controversial land swap deal between Ingushetia and Chechnya.

Amnesty said Kozlovsky was tricked into getting into a car by a man who claimed to be a representative of protest organizers. A group of men took him to a field, stripped him naked and performed a mock execution.

The men also took photos of him naked and threatened to release them to the public if he told anyone what had happened.

“They held a gun to my head and told me they were going to kill me. The men identified themselves as being officers of the local Center for Combating Extremism, a special police unit. They demanded to know the names of my contacts in Ingushetia and threatened to kill my wife and children if I reported what happened,” said Kozlovsky in a statement.

“But I won’t be bullied into silence. It’s imperative that the world knows the risks that human rights defenders and activists face in Russia.”

He was released several hours after the start of his ordeal. Prior to his release, one of the men said: “Never come back and don’t write filth about Ingushetia,” Amnesty said. Kozlovsky’s phone and camera were confiscated.

Kozlovsky said on Twitter he went to the police but haven’t heard of any progress in the investigation and decided to leave the country for now.

“This was a disturbingly violent and shocking incident. But the authorities need to know we will not be cowed and intimidated by men who hide behind masks. We have lodged a formal complaint with the Russian authorities,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s regional director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

“Oleg was abducted in plain view of hotel staff and CCTV cameras amid a heavy police presence on the streets of Magas. Those responsible for this cowardly attack must be promptly found and brought to justice.”