Investigators raid homes of lawyers from Team Against Torture in Nizhny Novgorod as part of ongoing criminal case

Criminal investigators raided the homes of multiple lawyers from the Team Against Torture (previously the Committee Against Torture) in Nizhny Novgorod on Friday morning, the organization reported.

One of the targets was Olga Sadovskaya, who was awarded a prize for her work by the Moscow Helsinki Group just a day earlier.

According to the Team Against Torture, the searches were in connection to a criminal case opened in South Ossetia. Earlier in April, police raided the organization’s office in Pyatigorsk. “In the interests of our applicants, we’re unable to disclose details of the case,” said the group’s statement.

The Committee Against Torture was founded by Igor Kalyapin in 2000. In 2015, the Russian Justice Ministry named it a “foreign agent.” The organization was disbanded shortly after, as was its successor, the Committee for the Prevention of Torture. Its lawyers continue to work in Russia under the name “Team Against Torture.”