On 18 November, 2020, the Prikubansky District Court of Krasnodar will start examination on the merits of the criminal case with regard to two Patrol Guard Service police officers, Vyacheslav Zyabkin and Vladimir Tatarkov – according to the investigative authorities, in March 2019, they broke the leg of local citizen Evgeny Manchenko, who late at night tried to climb over the fence of his household. The police officers are charged with abuse of office, they face punishment of up to ten years’ prison term.

As we have previously reported, on 22 March 2019, Evgeny Marchenko from Krasnodar applied to the Committee Against Torture. He told human rights defenders that on 10 March, at about midnight he was getting back home. Having approached the gate door, he found it was shut, and he left the keys at home, so he decided to climb over the fence.

“When I attempted to climb over the fence, two police officers ran up to me and started to pull me off the fence and hit me with their truncheons on my legs. Due to severe pain I failed to hold myself and fell. While I was lying on the ground, the police officers continued to apply physical force and hit me with their feet against the left foot in the area of the thigh”, – Evgeny describes.

According to Manchenko, all this time he was calling his parents for help, and, when they ran out, the police officers had already pulling him in the police car, having fastened his hands with handcuffs.

According to Evgeny’s mother, Snezhana Manchenko, her son is a disabled person with peculiarities of development. On that evening she knew that the son was nearby (because she has a software installed that is tracking his phone), and was expecting him to show up any minute.

“I ran outside when I heard him shouting, and I saw that he was lying on the floor of the police vehicle, handcuffed, – Snezhana remembers. – At the same time, Zhenya shouted loudly because of the pain, but the police officers tried not to let me near him and insisted they need to go to the police department for inquiry. Only after some time I managed to persuade them to remove the handcuffs from my son”.

Evgeny’s relatives called for an ambulance to the incident scene. The arrived medics urgently transported the victim to hospital where he was diagnosed with a closed fracture of the middle third of the left thighbone with dislocation of the bone parts, and the necessary assistance was rendered. For two weeks Evgeny was undergoing a hospital treatment.

The injuries which Evgeny Manchenko received, according to the act of forensic medical examination dated 21 March, were evaluated by the expert as grave bodily harm.

On 14 March, Snezhana Manchenko applied to the Investigative Committee with a crime report.

On 8 April, investigator on major cases with the Prikubansky Department of Krasnodar of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory Georgy Simonov initiated criminal proceedings with regard to two Patrol Guard police officers Vyacheslav Zyabkin and Vladimir Tatarkov – they are suspected of committing a crime under part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Intended grave bodily harm with the use of weapons or objects used as weapons” and “abuse of office using violence”). Evgeny Manchenko is declared a victim, and lawyers with the Committee Against Torture are acknowledged as his representatives.

Later on, the charge of intentional inflicting a grave damage to health was lifted from both the policemen, however, additional charges of illegal use of special equipment were added to the article on abuse of office. Moreover, Vyacheslav Zyabkin is charged with an additional qualifying criterion – grave consequences for the health of victim, Evgeny Manchenko.

On 11 June 2020, prosecutor of the Prikubansky Administrative District of Krasnodar Igor Bondar affirmed an indictment with regard to the police officers, after that the criminal case was transferred to the Prikubansky District Court of Krasnodar.

On 18 November 2020, the examination of this case on its merits will start.