Daria Bagina said in an appeal published by Alexander Safronov, a Communist Party deputy in the Krasnodar city duma, that Dmitry Morozov was hung by his feet in handcuffs, his head covered with a black sack and wrapped in tape so he could not see the officers' faces. Mediazona, Meduza and Novaya Gazeta Europe cited the appeal.

According to Bagina, Morozov was struck on the face, ribs and legs with electric current. He has bruised ribs, difficulty breathing, pain in his arms and signs of a concussion, she said. Relatives, journalists and members of the public saw the marks of the beating on his face at a court hearing, according to Bagina.

She said the purpose of the abuse was to extract a confession that Morozov had financed Ukraine and banned terrorist and extremist organizations. That did not happen, she said: "Dmitry never did anything like that."

Federal Security Service (FSB) officers detained Morozov in Izhevsk on October 2 as he left for a shop. On the morning of October 3 he was taken to a search. Bagina claims the officers inspected only two locations and themselves pulled a packet of mephedrone from one of them. The 0.38 grams found became the basis for a criminal case of possession in large quantity, an article that carries up to ten years in prison.

A court sent Morozov to a pre-trial detention center on October 5. Bagina said an unidentified person there sent him 13 kilograms of salt in order to use up part of the 30-kilogram monthly limit on parcels. She described this as a continuation of the pressure.

Morozov is a democratic socialist and a public environmental inspector from Udmurtia. He sought approval for a rally in Izhevsk against falsification in State Duma elections, but the city authorities refused. Together with like-minded people the activist sued the mayor's office and appealed to the presidential administration; a court ordered the administration to reconsider the application. Those close to him suggested the prosecution was linked to this activity.

Bagina called on people to write letters to Morozov in the detention center.