Quote for the Week

Week-ending 28 February 2020

Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk: ‘The testimony given by Rashid Maysigov, who was held illegally and given electric shocks, spotlights the disgraceful practices used by the police against critical journalists in Russia, and especially in the North Caucasus. We condemn an act of torture that went much further than the usual procedural violations and must not go unpunished. This journalist must be acquitted because the charges seem to have been fabricated.’

Source:

Tried on drug charge, Ingush reporter testifies he was tortured
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Russian authorities to acquit Rashid Maysigov, a journalist who has testified at his trial on a trumped-up drug possession charge in Magas, the capital of the southwestern republic of Ingushetia, that he was tortured.  Referring to an article in the Russian constitution that says citizens are not obliged to give evidence against themselves, Maysigov drew laughs from the courtroom when he testified on 18 February: “When I explained my rights under article 51, I certainly didn’t ask to be given electric shocks.” Reporters Without Borders, 21 February 2020

Featured photo: Rashid Maysigov. Source: RSF