Penza, 14 March 2018. PenzaNews. Information about possible torture of the people who remain in custody being accused of organization of a terrorist community and participation in it should be carefully checked in Penza as well as in Saint Petersburg, where people involved in the case, who subsequently stated confession under pressure, were also detained. Such an opinion was expressed by member of the Human Right Council of Saint Petersburg Alexandra Krylenkova.

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According to her, she already made corresponding statements to the prosecutor’s office and investigative committee.
"We do not have direct evidence [of torture of accused people in Penza] but we have such evidence in the same case in Saint Petersburg. They were registered by medical evidence, noted by members of public monitoring commissions and so on," Alexandra Krylenkova, who came to Penza to participate in court sessions concerning the issue of extending the measure of restraint against people involved in the case such as Dmitry Pchelintsev, Vasily Kuksov, Ilya Shakursky, Andrei Chernov, and Arman Sagynbaev, said.

According to the interlocutor, if such statements exist, they should be treated with utmost seriousness and investigation on the facts should be conducted.

"This is a natural requirement of national law and common sense, and especially of human rights activists," she noted Alexandra Krylenkova specified that all the people involved in the case, who reported the use of physical coercion, talked about beatings and use of electric current.

"In my opinion, this evidence is more than enough in order to carry out a detailed examination. Moreover, modern science allows to establish the application of current even if a very long time has passed – it is possible to do so for several months," she said.

In turn, executive director of the all-Russian movement For Human Rights Lev Ponomarev told PenzaNews that some of the accused who earlier declared torture later refuted their words.

"One person in Saint Petersburg still keeps to his accusation of having been tortured. Prosecutor's investigation is conducted," the right defender, who also visited Penza in connection with the investigation of this criminal case, noted.

Speaking of Penza people involved in the crime, he explained that "both Shakursky and Pchelinsky claimed they had been tortured".

Lev Ponomarev added that Dmitry Pchelinsky's words were recorded in an attorney survey, however, some time later he refuted them.

"We know that he refuted his words at that moment when we had information from his relatives stating that repeated pressure with the use of violence was exerted on him," he said emphasizing that the information requires careful verification.