НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН, РАСПРОСТРАНЕН И (ИЛИ) НАПРАВЛЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ «КОМАНДА ПРОТИВ ПЫТОК» ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА «КОМАНДА ПРОТИВ ПЫТОК» | 18+
The police officers who beat Yuriy Zontov, Svetlana Gumerova and Larisa Pikalova in 2010 were convicted only in 2022. By virtue of law, after the court sentence, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is obliged to apologize to the victims for the actions of its employees.
However, the Orenburg regional police department refused to bring apologies by its own motion, therefore, the lawyers of the Crew Against Torture insisted that the police officers apologize in writing. The relevant letter with the answer arrived in early October; in its text, the deputy head of the regional police department, Dmitry Sidorov, at last, apologizes for the unlawful actions of the perpetrators.
One should recall that in May 2010, Mr. Zontov, Mrs. Gumerova and Mrs. Pikalova were arrested on suspicion of a series of thefts. They denied their involvement in these crimes, but the police officers named Ivan Kudinov, Denis Fyodorov and Sergey Kornilov beat them and forced them to incriminate themselves. Later, doctors diagnosed the detainees with multiple injuries: Mrs. Pikalova had a concussion, Mrs. Gumerova had a tuft of hair on her head torn out, and Mr. Zontov had a chest hematoma.
The investigation soon established that all three individuals did not commit these crimes. The human rights defenders have achieved the opening of a criminal case against the policemen and 350 000 rubles as compensation for unlawful criminal prosecution of the victims. The ex-police officers were brought to justice only in May 2022. They were found guilty, but were released from any punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. When pronouncing the sentence, the judge noted the «particular cruelty and sadism» of the crime. In July 2023, the Orenburg regional court admitted that the investigation into the criminal case had not been prompt and awarded the victims 70 000 rubles in compensation for violating the promptness of the investigation.