The case of a native of Tajikistan was sent to the court in Ekaterinburg, Russia, after three years of detention.
30-year-old Behruz Ghaniev and two of his companions are suspected of terrorism, possession of weapons, development of explosives and other crimes. His relatives deny the accusation. The human rights organization “Memorial” called everyone a “political prisoner”.
“They laid down weapons and arrested”
Faiziniso Ghanieva, Behruz Ghaniev’s mother, told Radio Ozodi on September 26 that her son’s first trial will be held in Yekaterinburg Court on October 5.
He was arrested in April 2020 together with Artem Vatrya and Hamid Dataev. Russian authorities say that they found a bag full of weapons in their house and that they are all accused of terrorism and other crimes. Russian legislation provides for long years of imprisonment for this.
Mrs. Ghanieva considers the accusations to be false, as she claims that “the Russian law enforcement authorities put weapons in my son’s house and arrested him.”
“I saw him only once, last October. After every three months or half a year, the term of their detention is extended. My son said that he is being pressured and insulted in the detention center,” Faiziniso Ghanieva said.
Why “political prisoner”?
The legal protection organization “Memorial” called the criminal case against Behruz Ghaniev, Artem Vatrya and Hamid Dataev “fake”, saying that “the security forces despise the activists who defended the rights of local Muslims”.
According to the organization’s report from December 2022, Artem Vatrya worked to attract media attention to widespread violations of Muslim rights. “Memorial” wrote, according to the detainees, that the police officers tortured them in order to confess their guilt.
This organization called Ghaniev, Vatrya and Dataev “political prisoners” and wrote: “The examination showed that no handprints or other marks were found on the weapons and bullets they allegedly hid. The video of the authorities shows that they were not caught by the police officers, but were stolen.”
“They went hungry”
According to relatives, Behruz Ghaniev and two of his companions started a hunger strike in the detention center last year and asked the authorities to check the falseness of the charges against them. The Russian authorities did not respond to this request, but according to relatives, after a few days, Behruz and his two companions were taken from the Surgut detention center to Yekaterinburg.
Behruz Ghaniev moved to Russia with his family in 1994 and received the citizenship of that country. His mother is also asking for help from the Tajik authorities.
The Tajik consulate in Yekaterinburg told Radio Ozodi that no one had contacted them. “If they apply, we will definitely send them to Dushanbe,” said our interlocutor at the consulate.
After 2013, news about the arrest of several natives of Tajikistan on charges of terrorism and extremism was published in the media. Russian authorities said that some were killed during the operation. Doubts about the arrest and the result of the operation are not few.
Source : Радио Озоди