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Emran Navruzbekov was a Russian spy.
Emran Nawruzbekov (39), first lieutenant in counterintelligence at the Russian secret service FSB, was supposed to take part in “a special operation against citizens of the Russian Federation who have fled from Russia and are wanted” in Turkey and Syria for Russian President Vladimir Putin (70). For this he received a passport – issued directly by the Kremlin.
But instead of complying and handing over his fellow citizens to the Russian state, Nawruzbekov fled and applied for political asylum in Poland, as the human rights organization “Gulagu.net” learned in a two-hour interview with the agent. Now his family living in Russia has been arrested by the FSB – to silence him?
«The FSB controls all criminal activities»
The repressions against his relatives were initiated by the “central apparatus” after he had publicly testified about the crimes of the FSB, Nawruzbekov said in the appeal. Because of his high position in the Russian secret service, Nawruzbekov has a gold mine of sensitive information that could get the Russian state into big trouble.
According to the former spy, the FSB is said to be particularly active in the Russian republics of Dagestan and Chechnya with disinformation campaigns. “Essentially, the FSB controls all criminal activity in these regions.” When the liquor store bombings in Makhachkala, capital of the Republic of Dagestan, took place in the summer of 2013, Russia blamed Muslim extremists – but the FSB is said to be behind it.
And not only that: According to Navruzbekov, the FSB kidnaps, tortures and blackmails business people who can pay a ransom. For this purpose, the FSB has its own torture chambers throughout the region. For example, MSF’s Dutch humanitarian, Arjan Erkel, 52, was kidnapped in Makhachkala in 2004 and spent 607 days in captivity pending a ransom payment – a work of the FSB, if Navruzbekov is to be believed.
Desertion is punishable by imprisonment
To conduct the interview, Navruzbekov risked his life and that of his family members – but he said it was worth it. Because he wants to publicize the “rottenness” of the Russian government. When Navruzbekov offered to defect to other FSB officers, they all told him that their oath to the country was more important – and that they had families in Russia. Some are obviously afraid, others just seem to be waiting for something to happen.
Anyone who speaks out against the regime in Russia is declared an “extremist” and their children are not allowed to attend school or university, the former secret service agent explains in an interview. But things can get worse, as the example of Ramazan Rasulov shows.
The well-informed Kremlin expert Igor Sushko summarizes further information from the interview on Twitter. According to ex-spy Navruzbekov, Razulov was preparing to escape from the constraints of Russian intelligence and fled to the UK with over 250 gigabytes of evidence when he was caught. Razulov was first sent to Makhachkala in Dagestan for interrogation and is now being held in the FSB Lefortovo prison in Moscow, Navruzbekov said. Since 2014, when he was first sent to Ukraine’s Donbass, Rasulov has meticulously collected evidence to convict the Russian intelligence service. How he is doing now is unclear.
The Russian secret service FSB and the Russian government did not want to comment on the allegations against “Gulagu.net”. (chs)