Police beat man from Russia’s North Ossetia and jail his pregnant wife after harassing them for ‘flocking’ to Moscow

The human rights group Team Against Torture has asked the Russian Investigative Committee to launch a criminal case in response to an incident in which Moscow police allegedly beat and humiliated a 30-year-old man from North Ossetia named Tamerlan Marzoev. So far, the Investigative Committee has not granted the organization’s request, according to Mediazona.

Tamerlan Marzoev and his wife Aryuna, who is pregnant, were arrested in Moscow on October 14 after police approached them in a vehicle and demanded to see their documents.

“[One of the officers] started asking me where I’m from,” Tamerlan told human rights advocates. “I told him that I’ve lived in Moscow since the seventh grade and that I’m originally from North Ossetia. At that point, the officer said, ‘Why do you people keep flocking here?’”

According to Tamerlan, this comment angered his wife, who began cursing at the officer, so he told the officer that she was pregnant and stepped between the two to protect her.

“Almost immediately, the officer hit me several times in the chin. I fell on the concrete next to the car’s wheel and hit my head. All my clothes had blood on them. After they put my wife in the vehicle, the officer lifted me from the pavement by my jacket with both arms and punched me in the chest,” Tamerlan said.

Tamerlan and Aryuna Marzoev were taken to a police station, where, according to Tamerlan, the officers continued to insult them before bringing them to an office. “An investigator started asking me what [substance] I was on, and then he told me to strip down naked and sit down three times. I complied,” said Marzoev. He said the officers did not present him with any charges.

Aryuna Marzoev was charged with disorderly conduct. After she refused to sign the misdemeanor report, she was jailed for the night.

Marzoev was taken to a clinic for a medical examination before being sent to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken jaw and multiple head contusions. Several days later, he underwent surgery. His jaw fracture has left him unable to work.

Team Against Torture has asked the Moscow police to conduct an internal investigation into the actions of the police who arrested and abused the Marzoevs. Legal experts from the organization requested that the department save all video footage related to the incident.