‘Russia tortured me with plastic bag on head and 200 volt electric shocks’
Shaun Pinner was stabbed, beaten and electrocuted during interrogation.
A former British soldier who was held prisoner of war after being captured in eastern Ukraine has compared the torture of the Moscow terror suspects with what he endured whilst in the hands of Russia.
Shaun Pinner, from Watford, was taken in Mariupol during the early months of the invasion and spent five months in prison.
The 50-year-old, who had previously served with the British Army, recalled being stabbed, beaten and electrocuted during interrogation, as part of Russia’s tactics to get a confession out of him.
He reacted to a photograph of one of the suspects who appeared for a hearing in Basmanny District Court with visible signs of torture on his body and a plastic bag wrapped around his neck.
Mr Pinner said: ‘I can confirm not only do they use plastic bags as a way of torture – but also to transport you from A to B.
‘There is no air, no holes. It is hot and sweaty and easy to switch on the torture mode by completely cutting of your ability to breath…
‘Please remember that this is before any trial, technically… he is “an innocent man until proven guilty”.
‘But in Russia, it is “guilty until proven guilty”.’
What does the Geneva Convention say about torture of PoWs?
No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever.
Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind.
In interviews, he said Vladimir Putin’s men repeatedly asked him if he was a Nazi, an SAS trooper or an MI6 agent.
His captors cut his clothes off his body in order to search for right-wing tattoos, before stabbing him in the leg.
‘I was screaming … and then I had 200 volts go through me on the chair, control my leg, and I was literally standing up and he electrocuted me in there,’ Mr Pinner said.
His account of torture as part of interrogation tactics matches footage and photos being leaked on Telegram channels showing how the terror suspects are being treated while in detention.
Suspected ringleader Shamsiddin Fariduni was shown on the ground, with his trousers and pants pulled down.
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A wire from a military communications device TA-57, which security forces use for torture with electric shocks, appears to be connected to his genitals.
His face was seen all bruised and swollen, allegedly from severe beatings, when he appeared in court.
Another man was seen with the right side of his head all bandaged up after his ear was sliced off, while a third appeared in a wheelchair and a hospital gown.
The four men, all citizens of Tajikistan, are being charged over the deadliest assault in Russia in years, which ISIS claimed responsibility for.
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