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Russia: Two police officers convicted in torture trial

last updated Sep 26, 2012

A Russian court has sentenced Ramil Nigmatzyanov and Ilshat Garifullin to two and two-and-a-half years respectively for illegally detaining a man who was later tortured in a police department in Kazan and died in a hospital shortly after.

Russian police car
Russian police car; Source Wikimedia Commons

The two men did not directly take part in the physical and sexual abuse of Sergei Nazarov but they detained him on suspicion of theft and falsified his statement. The death of Nazarov in March this year sparked nation-wide protest against the prison system in Russia.


Despite a nationwide reform of the police force which was declared a triumph by authorities, the torture of Nazarov showed what human rights activists have been telling all along. The activists claim that violence in police stations including beatings and torture persists and that nothing has actually changed since the death of Nazarov.


Nine men are yet to go on trial in the Nazarov case, four of them allegedly being the direct perpetrators in the assault.


BBC News: Russia torture-in-custody case: Police pair jailed


NY Times: Russia: 2 Police Officers Found Guilty in Police Brutality Case in Kazan


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