MOSCOW -- A founder and former chief of the Committee Against Torture in Russia has been hospitalized after being attacked by an unidentified assailant, who is in police custody.
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Russia's presidential Council for Human Rights said on August 25 that Igor Kalyapin, who is a member of the council, was attacked late the previous evening in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The attacker, it added, tried to stab Kalyapin with a piece of broken glass and then suffocate him.
"Our colleague managed to call the police and the assailant was detained. An investigation is now under way. The victim is in the hospital with concussion symptoms," the council wrote on Telegram.
The Ostorozhno novosti Telegram channel quoted Kalyapin as saying that the attacker tried to kill him. At this point, it is not clear if the attack was linked to Kalyapin's human rights activities.
Kalyapin’s colleague, Natalya Kurekina, told the SOTA online newspaper that the attacker introduced himself as a detective of the Nizhny Novgorod city police.
Kalyapin left his post on the Committee Against Torture earlier this year after he and his mother faced pressure and intimidation from unknown individuals who he believes were most likely linked to the authorities.
The Committee Against Torture was added to the Justice Ministry's registry of so-called "foreign agents" earlier this year, after which the group announced its decision to shut down.
Later, the organization said it will continue its human rights activities under a new name -- Team Against Torture.