15 years in an increased security penal colony for killing a colleague

Yesterday the Mariy El Supreme Court pronounced the verdict for traffic police officer Vasily Mikhailov charged under p. 3 art. 30, p.1,2 cl. «а» art.105 of the RF Criminal Code (attempted murder, murder).

The court stopped proceedings against Mr. Mikhailov under cl.«b», «c» p.3 art. 286 of the RF Criminal Code (abuse of office with usage of weapon and special devices causing grave consequences) and issued a separate judgment in respect of the investigator who had committed an error while preparing the bill of particulars.

The judge pronounced the verdict according to which Mikhailov was found guilty of murder and attempted murder and prescribed a penalty of 15 years of imprisonment in an increased security penal colony.

You may remember that at night on 5 July 2008, local traffic police officer, major Mikhailov, all of a sudden started firing at his mate and shot him. There was also another victim, officer Artem Turanov from the Volzhsk Department of the Interior, who was conducting a check at the police station. Fortunately, he was only wounded. Then the major tried to commit suicide, but he failed.

Regional NGO “Man and Law” and the Interregional Committee against Torture conducted a public investigation under the application of the deceased officer’s mother who had asked for help.

Right after the verdict was read out, there was a press-conference devoted not only to Mikhailov’s case, but to the problem of tortures in Mariy El law enforcement bodies. Among the participants there were Lyudmila Lebedeva, mother of lieutenant Dmitry Lebedev who had been killed, co-chairman of RNGO “Man and Law” Sergey Poduzov and head of the Public Investigation Department of RNGO “Man and Law”, head of the Committee against Torture representation Dmitry Yegoshin.

Lawyers of INGO “Committee against Torture” and RNGO “Man and Law” spoke about the public investigation into Lebedev’s murder and shared their legal position in respect of this case. They considered Mikhailov’s punishment proportionate to the crime committed by him. Lyudmila Lebedeva claimed that she was not satisfied with the verdict and would appeal against it. Human rights defenders, in their turn, will help her to prepare and lodge all the necessary documents.