The Committee Against Torture asked for the state protection of 18-year old Gennadiy Schvetsov due to threats by the Investigative Detention Facility

News

21 February 2022

Lawyers with the Committee Against Torture submitted an application to provide state protection to 18-year old Gennadiy Shvetsov from Orenburg, who is kept at the Investigative Detention Facility No.1 of Orenburg with robbery charges. This request was raised after Gennadiy told human rights defenders about threats by the detention facility staff. 

According to Shvetsov, they demanded from him to confess of rape and promised to hurt him if he refused. “If you don’t do that, that will be the end of you”, — the lawyer quoted one of the operative officers. Apart from that, Gennadiy said that the detention facility officers “give him regards” in the form of the blows by the police officers from the department where he was tortured. Gennadiy’s lawyer Eldar Sharafutdinov submitted a complaint about threats the to the Investigative Committee.

Shvetsov applied to the Committee Against Torture in October 2021, on the next day after he was beaten up by the police officers who demanded that he confessed of a phone theft. In addition, Gennadiy said that he was threatened with rape. When the young man’s uncle came to the department accompanied by a lawyer, the police officers released Gennadiy and said “there has been a mistake”.

On the next day, lawyers with the Committee Against Torture accompanied the young man to the Bureau of the medical forensic examination. The medics registered numerous extravasations and bruises all over the body.

Human rights defenders conducted a public investigation and submitted a report on abuse of office to the Investigative Committee and to the Department of Internal Security of the regional Department of the Interior. As a result, the investigators initiated the case. Three police officers became defendants. They were sent for home arrest, but later on the measure of restraint was switched to the prohibition of certain actions. Today, Gennadiy’s defense lawyers learned that the police officers had their measure of restraint extended for a month, due to that they submitted an appellate appeal, demanding that the police officers are taken into custody. 

— We think that the state is obliged to protect the victim from the pressure exerted on him. It is worth pointing out that such a behavior is not exceptional for the staff of this detention facility. For example, one of them forced a confession of murder from our applicant Mushfig Shykhaliyev, although later on it appeared that he was not involved in the crime. Usually, such methods are used when there is no evidence in the case. I think, in the case of Shvertsov there is no evidence, and they want to intimidate him, because he intends to bring the police officers to criminal responsibility, — lawyer with the Committee Against Torture Albina Mudarisova, representing the interests of Gennadiy, comments.

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