Ruslan Badartdinov, photographer and member of the Libertarian Party of Russia from Samara, complained to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) about being tortured with a ruler. He was searched and taken away for interrogation by the local office of the FSB because of his being in the same anarchist chats with a suicide bomber. On February 10, the press service of the Zone of Law Human Rights Project reported this to 7x7.
Ruslan Badartdinov complained to the ECHR about Russian security forces violating the international ban on inhuman and degrading treatment and the lack of legal defence (the incident with beatings was not investigated). Badartdinov reported physical and moral pressure of the FSB. According to him, they hit him on the head, including with a ruler, threatened to abuse him sexually and racked the slide of the gun behind his back. After they let Badartdinov go home as a witness, he stayed in the hospital with a traumatic brain injury.
Military interrogators refused to open a criminal case against the FSB employees, citing the statements given by intelligence agency operatives themselves (they had denied the beating). According to human rights activists, military interrogators could not explain in their denial to open a case how Ruslan Badartdinov had got hurt. Lawyer Vladimir Krasikov represents Badartdinov before the court.
The search and interrogation of Badartdinov took place in April 2019. A few days later, 7x7 reported the violent use on him. In total, according to human rights activists, hundreds of witnesses were searched and interrogated in the case on the explosion of lone terrorist Mikhail Zhlobitsky – on October 31, 2018, he went to the reception of the office of the FSB in Arkhangelsk and detonated a homemade bomb.
After this explosion, security forces across the country monitored the reactions to the attack on social networks and several bloggers were accused of justifying terrorism.
