Deputy head of the Dzerzhinsk investigation authority can be held criminally accountable.

   The Interregional Committee against Torture has sent an application to Mr. Stravinskas, head of the Nizhny Novgorod regional Investigation Administration, claiming that deputy head of the Dzerzhinsk investigation authority Kokin committed a crime.

Today lawyers of the Interregional Committee against Torture have complained about the unlawful actions of Mr. Kokin, deputy head of the Dzerzhinsk Interdistrict Investigation Department of the IA of the IC under the RF Prosecutor’s Office for Nizhny Novgorod region, to Mr. Stravinskas, head of the IA of the IC under the RF Prosecutor’s Office for Nizhny Novgorod region. The complaint was filed in the interests of Sergey Lyapin accusing the police of Volodarsk of cruel tortures, and the investigation authorities – of reluctance to conduct an effective investigation under his application.

Kokin refused to provide the materials of the check conducted under Lyapin’s application to Mr. Lyapin, thus he violated the victim’s constitutional right of access to information. Later the Dzerzhinsk city court found that refusal unlawful.

We lodged a civil suit claiming compensation of moral damage incurred to Mr. Lyapin by Kokin’s denial of access to the materials of the check under Lyapin’s application to the Sovietsky district court. The court sustained the suit and awarded compensation of moral damage holding that Kokin’s actions had really inflicted damage to Lyapin.  

According to article 140 of the RF Criminal Code “an unlawful refusal of an official to provide the materials and documents gathered in accordance with set procedures and involving to the person’s rights and freedoms is punished by a penalty from 200 rubles to the amount of the official’s salary or other income for a period of up to 18 months or by a ban of public service in certain sectors from 2 to 5 years provided the official’s actions incurred damage to the applicant”.

The fact of unlawful denial of access to the required information is established by the court, at that moment Mr. Kokin was a public servant acting in his official capacity, Kokin’s actions inflicted moral damage to Lyapin which is again established by the court.

We hope that the responsible person will be held accountable and it will be a good lesson for other law enforcement agents making them respect both the citizens and their civil and constitutional rights.