On February 8 the Leninsky district court of Ufa (Republic of Bashkiria) awarded Ildar Zaidulin 25 000 rubles as compensation of moral damage he had sustained as a result of the crime committed by officers of the Alsheyevsky District Department of Internal Affairs.  When the judgment enters into force, the compensation will be paid from the Russian Treasury.

The respondent’s representative, employee of the Federal Treasury Administration for the Republic of Bashkiria, asked the court to dismiss the claim on the grounds that the proper respondent party should be the Bashkirian Interior Ministry or law enforcers in charge of the crime. Representatives of the Bashkirian Interior Ministry did not show up at the hearing at all, but submitted a response to the claim saying that it should be dismissed and the responsibility should be borne by their former colleagues, since at the moment of the crime they had been off duty.  

We would like to remind you that on May 20, 2011 the Alsheyevsky district court found Alsheyevsky District Department of Internal Affairs officers Ilgiz Akimbetov and Ranis Mardeyev guilty under cl. a, b, part 3 of Article 286 of the Russian Criminal Code “abuse of office with violent treatment and use of special devices”. They were sentenced to 6 years and 6 months of imprisonment, the sentence was suspended on a 3-year probation with disqualification from holding law enforcement office for 1 year and 6 months.

The court established that on October 26, 2009 Ildar Zaydulin, slightly under the weather, had been stopped by the policemen in a field on his way home from the train station in Maloakkulayevo, Alsheyevsky district of Bashkiria. The police prepared an administrative offense protocol under Article 20.21 of the RF Administrative Code “Intoxication in public” in respect of Zaydulin. In his turn, the applicant argued that a field was not a public place and promised to lodge a complaint. In response to that the police beat him, put into the trunk of the police car, took to a desolate place several kilometers away and only after that released him. As a result of the beatings the applicant sustained minor bodily harm.

Ildar Zaydulin kept his promise and applied to the investigative authorities and Committee Against Torture The policemen took active steps to hamper the investigation. For instance, they organized lodging of two false reports about crimes allegedly committed by Ildar Zaydulin, and also furnished witnesses giving false testimonies. One of these witnesses is Mardeyev’s and Akimbetov’s functional head – major Karimov, the other two work in the Alsheyevsky District Correctional Inspection. Besides, the court also held that the testimony of Akimbetov’s cousin – Firuz Shafikov – was false. When the judgment entered into force the CAT filed a crime report under p.1 of Article 307 of the Russian Criminal Code “Perjury by a witness”.