The Committee Against Torture suggests to anybody who wants to submit a letter addressed to the President of Russia asking to hand over the criminal case against head of the Grozny branch of the “Memorial” human rights center Oyub Titiyev, as well as the materials of the check based on his complaint about the crime committed against him by the police officers, for investigation outside of the Chechen Republic.
As we have previously reported, Oyub Titiyev is charged with committing a crime under Part 2 Article 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“illegal purchase and storage of narcotic substances on a large scale”).
The application can be sent in the form of an electronic document at official web-site http://letters.kremlin.ru/letters/send
SAMPLE of the application
Mr President!
I’m applying to You regarding the case of human rights defender Oyub Titiyev. He is accused by the Chechen police under Part 3 Article 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of storage of drugs and taken into custody.
I have become aware from the media that head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov, during his speeches at meetings, the records of which were on air of the Chechen state TV & radio company “Grozny”, spoke of Oyub Titiyev in a grossly insulting manner, in particular, as of a drug addict, interpreting the circumstances of the case under investigation as an already established fact.
In my opinion, such statements are humiliating Oyub Titiyev’s human dignity, as well as openly demonstrate the prejudgement and partiality towards him, since the fact of Oyub Titiyev’s committing the alleged crime is not yet established. According to Article 49 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as Article 14 of the Criminal and Procedural Code of the Russian Federation, the defendant is considered non-guilty, until his guilt in committing the crime is not proven in the procedure established by the federal law and is not established by the court’s verdict which entered into legal force. At the present time Oyub Titiyev’s guilt is not established.
Taking into account that Ramzan Kadyrov has a special rank of Major General of Justice, as well as the fact that the head of the Chechen Republic, according to Article 63 of the Constitution of the Chechen Republic, is the head of the executive authority, assigns the Government of the Chechen Republic, which reports to him, such statements from the top executive authority of the region demonstrate the impossibility of conducting an objective and exhaustive investigation on the territory of the Chechen Republic, since in the region it is conducted by persons who, one way or another, either directly report to him, or are in subordination with such persons.
I would add that Titiyev himself also applied to law-enforcement with a complaint about the crime committed against him, namely, that the drugs were planted in his car by the police officers. Based on the results of the crime report check a refusal to initiate criminal proceedings was issued. However, this check was also conducted in the district investigative section of the investigative department of the Investigative Committee for the Chechen Republic, which, judging from the above, indicates its possible partiality.
Therefore, in order to observe Oyub Titiyev’s rights and conduct independent investigation, corresponding to underlying principles of the Russian Federation legislation, I ask you to raise an issue with the Minister of the Interior of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation to hand over the criminal case with regard to Oyub Titiyev, as well as the materials of the check based on Titiyev’s complaint about the crime committed against him by the police officers, for further proceedings outside the territory of the Chechen Republic.