Bakhrom Khamroev

Detained on February 24, 2022, the operatives opened the door of his flat with a key. On February 26, the court decided to take Khamroev into custody. On March 4 the offices of Memorial and Civil Assistance were searched as part of the case. Lawyers and the chairman of the board of the International "Memorial" Yan Rachinsky were not allowed into its offices. The search in one of Memorial's offices ended only on the night of March 5. After the search, the staff found that the letters Z - a symbol of support for the war in Ukraine - as well as the phrase "Memorial is done" were written on stands and flipcharts. Bakhrom Khamroev has been involved in human rights work in Russia since 1992. In recent years he is dedicated to defending the rights of migrants from Asia and Russian Muslims. In February 2020, the court dropped the criminal case against Khamroev under the article on fictitious registration of foreigners (Article 322.2 of the Criminal Code). The case was closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. In 2016 and 2017, Khamroev was searched twice because of the case of two refugees from Uzbekistan, in which the human rights defender was a witness. During one of the interrogations, FSB officers asked Khamroev why was he helping "extremists". On October 17, 2022, it became known that a case of organising activities of a terrorist organisation was also brought against Khamroev. Later the charge was reclassified to participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation. On May 23, 2023, Khamroev was sentenced to 14 years in a strict regime colony. On October 10, the court of appeal reduced the sentence by three months. Khamroev's wife reported that on January 23, 2024 he was severely beaten in the Vladimirskiy Tsentral prison. This happened after Khamroev repeatedly filed complaints about the conditions of detention. According to his wife, "he was beaten on his legs, groin, kidneys, there were bloody abrasions on his back, he lost consciousness from a blow to the head". After that, Khamroev's lawyer was twice prevented from visiting his client, and medical workers refused to record the beatings. Other Muslims detained in the facility demanded an end to his abuse, some of whom also survived beatings.