FBI threatened friends of slayed Florida Chechen Todashev

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4. More from the Miami Herald

FBI spokesmen Paul Bresson said in an email statement that he couldn't comment on ongoing investigations, "including who we interview and why."

"However, anytime the FBI interviews an individual it is done either with his/her consent or with an attorney present," Bresson said.

The civil rights group also alleged that a friend of Todashev who was arrested last week on an unrelated charge was questioned for six hours by FBI agents about Todashev. When Ashurmamad Miraliev was arrested last week, he asked to have an attorney present during questioning but was denied the request, said Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Tampa office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Miraliev later was booked into the Osceola County Jail on a charge of tampering with a witness or informant for an unrelated case.

Attorneys only saw him for the first time on Tuesday, Shilby said.