An unnamed fourth suspect in the case of the death of former Akhmat special forces soldier Ahmed Dzhabrailov, who died following alleged police torture in July 2024, has been arrested in Makhachkala.
The arrest was made possible due to the persistence of Dzhabrailov’s relatives, who have been actively demanding the detention of all those involved, Shamil Khadulaev, the Head of Daghestan’s Public Supervisory Commission, told OC Media.
Dzhabrailov, 48, had a prior criminal conviction and later took part in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, serving in the Akhmat special forces unit. He returned to Daghestan approximately a week before his death.
On 9 July 2024, Dzhabrailov was detained by police for disturbing public order.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Daghestan, a witness reported that a man with a knife was running across a rooftop on Gamzatov Avenue in the capital. Police officers responded to the call. Although they managed to ‘neutralise’ Dzhabrailov, they were allegedly unable to calm him down or ‘bring him back to a normal state’. The press service stated that even the arrival of Dzhabrailov’s parents did not help: he initially recognised his mother but then resumed aggressive behaviour, seemingly disoriented and unresponsive.
Paramedics were called to the scene, but due to his continued agitation, he was taken into police custody, the press service wrote.
Violent treatment of Dzhabrailov, including the use of a stun gun and a choke hold, was caught on CCTV footage from inside the police station. Video recordings were later published online. In total, the videos last 18 minutes.
‘I have no answers as to how, by whom, or why the CCTV recordings included in the case materials were leaked’, wrote Gayana Garieva, the head of the press service of Daghestan’s Interior Ministry, on her Telegram channel.
Dzhabrailov reportedly died at the scene following the torture. Paramedics who arrived at the scene could only confirm that he had died.
‘Although the police claim that Dzhabrailov allegedly resisted, there is nothing like that in the video. We do not see any active actions on his part, so it was illegal to take any measures against him’, Khadulaev told OC Media.
Following the incident, three officers from Makhachkala’s Sovietsky district police station were detained: Gamzat Abdulganiev, commander of a patrol unit, and two other officers whose names are unknown. They are suspected of abuse of authority. In June, the Sovietsky District Court extended their detention, despite their defence claiming their innocence.
Defence lawyer Eldar Mollaev stated that Dzhabrailov reacted aggressively to the officers, prompting them to detain him. During the incident, one of the officers allegedly sustained a moderate injury.
The case is being investigated under abuse of official authority and intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm resulting in death.
According to court documents submitted in relation to Abdulganiev’s detention, the officer ‘pressed his knees into the face-down victim’s back, using his body weight to compress the victim’s [Dzhabrailov’s] chest and abdomen, impeding airflow and causing mechanical asphyxia, which led to death by negligence’.
Relatives of Dzhabrailov told Caucasian Knot that six officers were involved in his torture and death — all of whom appear on video. They maintain that only their persistent appeals to the Prosecutor’s Office and Investigative Committee, along with the release of the video evidence, resulted in the arrest of a fourth suspect.
Dzhabrailov’s sister, Madina Dzhabrailova, said the investigation only progressed after they obtained and published a second video showing her brother being beaten at a checkpoint within the police station. Initially, the Investigative Committee refused to arrest the officer shown in the video, claiming the footage did not clearly identify the individual.
The family believes that investigators are deliberately delaying the case and failing to hold accountable all those responsible, including duty officers who should have intervened and paramedics who allegedly did not attempt to save Dzhabrailov.
Dzhabrailova also stated that her family is being portrayed by the defence as being opposed to the state and the police as a whole.
‘But we are not against the state. We are against those wearing uniforms who murdered my brother’, she said.
In January 2023, another man, Kurban Dalgatov, died in the same police station following detention. A criminal case was opened against 13 officers. That investigation is ongoing.
Luiza Mchedlishvili
