«A police officer kicked me in the legs and I fell». The court declared legal the dismissal of a claim to open a criminal case based on the application from the Krasnodar resident

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27 February 2023

НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН, РАСПРОСТРАНЕН И (ИЛИ) НАПРАВЛЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ «КОМАНДА ПРОТИВ ПЫТОК» ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА «КОМАНДА ПРОТИВ ПЫТОК» | 18+

Evgeny Lastin told human rights defenders that back in 2020 he was beaten up by the police officers during apprehension. They forced him to stand on his knees and then made him confess of stealing the shaving kits. The Investigative Committee issued four dismissals of claims to open a criminal case based on Lastin’s application, despite the available record of the video surveillance camera that shows that during the apprehension Evgeny was not offering any resistance, but was knocked down by the police officer.   

Lawyers with the Crew Against Torture appealed against the latest dismissal of the claim to open a criminal case, first at the Prikubansky District Court, and then submitted an appellate appeal.  On 20 February, the Krasnodar Territory Court dismissed the application submitted by the CAT lawyers.   

The comment by CAT lawyer:   

«We shall certainly appeal against this ruling in the superior instance. We noticed that, when passing the ruling, the courts, did not have the materials of the check performed by the investigator. That is why it is unclear how they established that the dismissal of the claim to open a criminal case was legal and grounded».   

Evgeny Lastin told human rights defenders that in October 2020 he arranged to sell a shaving kit via a classifieds site. In the evening, he met a buyer at the entrance of his house, where he was detained by the police officers.  

«A police kicked me below the knee and I fell. He pulled my arms behind my back  and put handcuffs on me», – Lastin recalls.

Then, according to Evgeny, the police officers forced him to sit in the car, where the battery continued.  The man was delivered to the Krasnodar Police Department in Oktyabrskaya Street. According to Evgeny, they started to beat him up there, forcing him to confess of having stolen the shaving kit.   

«As soon as we entered the room, the police officer demanded that I stood on my knees. When I did, he hit me in the chest with his fist. I fell on the floor, and the police officer pressed my left shoulder and I started to have difficulties breathing. They demanded that I confessed of having stolen shaving kits. I denied», – Evgeny recalls.

Lastin spent the whole night in the police department, and the next day, the police officers went with him to the flat he was living in, and searched it. Then, according to Evgeny, they returned to the police department, where he wrote a full confession as it was dictated to him and signed it, thus confessing of stealing shaving kits in a shop.      

In December 2020, lawyers with CAT applied to the Investigative Committee with a crime report on behalf of Lastin.  In January 2021, the investigator dismissed the claim to open a criminal case against the police officers, having considered that their actions did not contain any element of crime. The police officers claimed that they applied force against Lastin at the moment of apprehension only, to prevent his escape, however, a video record from the surveillance camera disproves this, showing that Evgeny did not attempt to flee, and is knocked down by a police officer in civilian clothes.  

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