On 5 December 2018, the investigation of the criminal case initiated with regard to the battery and torture of 18-year-old Kirill Tiunov at the Blagoveschensky police department is resumed once again in the Republic of Bashkortostan. According to the young man, he was beaten up with the electric shocker and the battery lasted several hours. Despite the fact that the investigation lasts for almost a year, there are no suspects in the case yet, and many investigative activities have not been performed.

As we have previously reported, on 24 January 2018, Kirill Tiunov from the Republic of Bashkortostan applied to the Committee Against Torture for legal assistance. According to Kirill, on 22 July of last year he was celebrating his birthday with his family and friends. Late in the evening he and his friends went for a walk around Blagoveschensk. In one of the backyards he approached a company of people who were drinking alcoholic drinks at a children’s playground.

– This group consisted of a man and several women with children. I asked a man for a cigarette, but he refused in a blunt manner. My friend started to argue with him just about faster than I responded, – Tiunov recalls.

After that, according to Kirill, a brawl started, in which women took part, too.

Having left the incident site, Kirill and his friend went running in the direction of their homes. On their way, they were apprehended by the Patrol Guard Service officers and taken to the Ministry of the Interior Department for the Blagoveschensky District. Prior to that the police officers had taken the young people to the children’s playground, where they were identified by one of the women who took part in a brawl.

According to Kirill, at first two police officers kicked him in the corridor of the police department, then the execution continued in the training class: “A police officer approached me, ordered me to stand up, hit me in the face and said that I beat up his relative. Then he smashed my face again and pulled me to the dustbin, holding me by my neck. He pressed my head to the dustbin several times, saying “I’ll have you raped by the off-limits”.

According to Tiunov, in parallel with the battery, the police officers were torturing him with an electric shock device; as a result they forced him to sign explanations where he confessed of beating up a woman and a child at the children’s playground.

According to Kirill, he left the police department at about 5 a.m.: “Several guys were standing Nearby, I recognized many of them, and I knew their names. They approached me and I told them I was beaten up at the police department. One of the guys suggested we go a little bit further, and we stopped in ten steps distance from the police department building. Without saying a word, they started to hit and kick me, knocked me down on the ground and continued to kick me all over. In a few moments, I passed out”.

In some time, a local police officer picked Kirill up. He brought Tiunov to the police department, but released him after some time. Kirill does not remember the details of that encounter very vividly, since he finally came to his senses only in the evening, in hospital.

According to the expert’s conclusion, Kirill Tiunov had numerous traumas and bodily injuries: closed craniocerebral injury, brain concussion, bruises and hematomas of the face, chest, limbs, back and lumbar region.

On 25 July 2017, Kirill’s mother applied to the Investigative Committee with a crime report. Half a year later, on 17 January 2018, investigator of the Birsky Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Bashkortostan Dmitry Nikiforov initiated criminal proceedings based on the elements of crime under item “a” of part 3 Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“abuse of office using violence”).

During the preliminary investigation a number of witnesses were interrogated, including several police officers, as well as three face-to-face confrontations involving the victim and three police officers, in the course of which Tiunov identified one of his offenders. Despite this fact, there are no suspects in this criminal case.

What is more, on 17 August of this year, investigator Ildar Latypov dismissed this criminal case, however, on 30 August this ruling was declared illegal at the Republican Investigative Department – the case was sent back for additional investigation, and the investigator was given instructiions on conducting specific investigative activities: visual examination of the incident scene with participation of Kirill Tiunov, questioning of the forensic medical expert and obtaining itemization of calls.  

On 10 October, having failed to perform either of the actions requested by the superiors, investigator Latypov dismissed the criminal case for the second time.  

On 16 November 2018, lawyer with the Committee Against Torture Danil Chendemerov submitted an application stating his disagreement with the dismissal of the criminal case to the regional Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee.

Today, Deputy Head of the Department of Procedural Control of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Bashkortostan Albert Gumerov notified human rights defenders that the dismissal of the criminal case is quashed on 5 December, additional investigation of the case is organized.

“We were completely dissatisfied with the quality of this criminal case investigation at the regional level, as well as how the monitoring is executed at the republican level, – Danil Chendemerov comments.

– With regard to this, we intend to insist that not only the investigator who openly sabotages his work and fails to execute orders is punished, but also his line managers. We will also put forward a motion to transfer the case to the republican investigative department”.