The Kstovo police have stood out again. The ICAT has many times received complaints about the immense cruelty of Kstovo law enforcers (cases of Nikita Kaftasyev, Viktor Kondratenko, Pavel Sedov, ect). This time the victim is a former police officer who quit his job with the police only a month before the incident.

On October 27, 2011 Alexey Morozov was driving home with two friends. Near the house his way was suddenly blocked by two vehicles without any police signs. Several men came out of the cars and introduced themselves as criminal investigators. Then, according to Alexey, one of them hit him several times with a club and dragged him out of the car.  Alexey was kicked down, placed facedown on the asphalt and handcuffed. Alexey’s parents who had come out of the house were witnessing the scene. They claim that there were five law enforcers altogether. One of them was Artur Gasparyan, Criminal Investigation Department Head of the Kstovo District under the Regional Interior Ministry. Having handcuffed Alexey, the police ordered his friends to get inside one of the police cars.  They did so. Alexey was placed in the other car which then drove away.  

According to the victim, he was taken to the forest and subjected to the so-called envelope torture. The police also put a plastic bag on his head and shut the air off. At the same time, the police was asking Alexey where and with whom he had spent the previous day. As Alexey was not replying, they took him to the police station where he again experienced the envelope torture and beatings.  Later Morozov was placed into remand prison no. 52/1. There he felt worse and could not move on his own.

Subsequently, Alexey was hospitalized due to health problems. The doctor said that Morozov’s joint nerve had been damaged. At the present moment the young man is still in hospital and can hardly walk.

Experts of the Committee against Torture admit that Alexey Morozov can be responsible for the crimes he is accused of. However, his guilt is to be determined in court and all charges must be supported by irrefutable evidence collected by means of an official investigation.  Unfortunately, some policemen still prefer to use methods described by the victim to do their job. Such strategy, surely, improves crime solution indicators, while it guarantees a confession, irrespective of whether or not the person is actually in charge of the crime. 

The Committee against torture has started a public investigation into Morozov’s allegations.