Source: HRO.org (info), 20/02/12

· Ministry of Internal Affairs  · Public Prosecutor’s Office  · Security agencies  · Ingushetiya  · Stavropol region

Memorial Human Rights Centre reports that, on 17th February 2012 at the railway station of Mineralnye Vody in Stavropol region, a resident of Nazran in the Republic of Ingushetia, Rustam Alikhanovich Aushev (born in 1988) was abducted apparently by officers of the FSB.

At 12.50 he left Nazran by train for Mineralnye Vody where he had to change trains for Brest in Belarus. According to his family, Rustam was on his way to see his sister in Belgium. His wife, Asya Albakova, said that at 17.00 her husband was in Mineralnye Vody and they exchanged texts. After 18.00 Rustam stopped replying to texts and calls and after 19.00 his phone was switched off.

On 19th February his family set off for Mineralnye Vody to look for Rustam. At the railway station they appealed to the security staff for help: they were shown a ССTV video in which it was obvious that four men in civilian clothes were detaining Rustam. They twisted his hands behind his back and sat him in a white “Gazel” minibus. According to security at the station, there were already several people in the vehicle. The security men reported that, prior to Rustam’s detention, the “Gazel” had driven up to the entrance of the station. One of those sitting in the vehicle came out and showed his ID as an officer of the FSB, introducing himself as “Larinov” or as “Varinov” (the security men couldn’t quite catch it). All the same, they didn’t allow the “Gazel” on to the station, because, to allow access, they would have had to contact the Mineralnye Vody duty office of the FSB. After that, the unknown persons parked their vehicle just beyond the station’s limits.

The station staff did not give the Aushev family the videotape. They said that they would hand it over if requested by the staff of law enforcement agencies.

Rustam’s family appealed in a written statement to the Nazran police department, the transport police, and the FSB department in Mineralnye Vody.

On 20th February Asya Albakova appealed to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Ingushetia, the Republic’s Security Council and human rights organisations. In her appeals she asserted that her husband had never been subject to criminal proceedings and did not have a criminal record. Friends and neighbours attested to his good character.

The whereabouts of Rustam Aushev are still not known.

20th February 2012