Yesterday on 20 December 2016 in Orenburg health resort “Stroitel” a citizen of Neftekamsk, Vener Mardamshin, who three weeks ago applied to the Committee for the Prevention of Tortures for legal assistance with regard to the fact of severe abuse he was inflicted to at the local police department. Human rights defenders representing the interests of Mardamshin have all the reasons to assume that this arrest is a direct result of his complaints on the policemen and this is a way to force him to refuse the evidence he has given previously. Let us remind you that on 12 December the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case with regard to the fact of tortures.
Let us remind you that three weeks ago Vener Mardamshin applied to the Committee for the Prevention of Tortures for legal assistance. He said that on 10 November this year he was captured by four men who handcuffed his hands, put a plastic bag on his head, pushed into the car and drove him away in the unknown direction. According to Vener, later it turned out that those were the policemen who took him to the city police department and started to beat him using truncheons and an electric shocker, and forcing him to confess in kidnapping a woman. However the attempts of the policemen to force Vener give a confession to the crime were unsuccessful and they released him, having taken an explanatory statement from him that he had been drinking alcohol with his friends and had no claims to the policemen.
According to Mardamshin, an acquaintance of him helped him to get home. His wife called an ambulance, and the man was taken to the hospital in Neftekamsk, where he was receiving treatment until 21 November, and then was transferred to the hospital of Ufa. Totally, Mardamshin was receiving hospital treatment for twenty seven days. The doctors of Neftekamsk hospital registered the following diagnosis in the discharge summary of the sick person: “Concomitant injury, closed craniocerebral injury. Brain concussion. Concussion of cervical vertebrae. Closed compression fracture of the body of vertebra L1. Closed (old?) fracture of L1 spine vertebra on the right. Concussion of the left side of the pelvis. Both kidneys contusion. Gross hematuria. Numerous concussions, bruises, scratch marks and pinpoint wounds of the soft tissues of the head, body, upper and lower limbs. Post-traumatic ischemic neuropathy of radial nerve of the left forearm. Post-traumatic ischemic neuropathy of the fibular nerve of the left lower leg.” .
On 12 November Gulnaz Mardamshina (Vener’s wife) applied to Neftekamsk inter-regional investigation department of Investigation Division of Investigation Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Bashkortostan with the crime report. A month later investigator if this department Andrey Nagornov passed a resolution to open a criminal case upon the signs of the crime under the items “a, b” Part 3, Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Abuse of office using violence and special means”).
Within the framework of medical rehabilitation Vener was receiving treatment in Orenburg health resort “Stroitel” where the policemen from Neftekamsk came unexpectedly on 20 December. Mardamshin was detained in suspicion of committing a number of crimes dates 12 November last year within the framework of investigating the criminal case that had been suspended until recently.
As it turned out from the resolution on the proceedings of preliminary investigation conducted by the investigating group, the report of the criminal investigation department special agents dated 16 December this year (four days after initiating a criminal case upon the fact of the tortures) stating that Mardamshin was involved in perpetration of the investigated crimes became the reason for reopening this criminal case and arrest of Mardamshin.
According to the unconfirmed information, a witness in Mardamshin’s case who had seen him with bodily injuries at the local police department was arrested yesterday.
“In my opinion we see a clear picture of putting pressure on the victim when after his complaint against the police officers he immediately turned into a suspect with relation to committing a number of crimes that happened a year ago: he was virtually taken from the hospital bed despite the high temperature and increased blood pressure and taken to Neftekamsk for applying a measure of restraint. Concerning the criminal case based on report of the tortures nine days have passed since it was initiated, but neither Vener nor his wife were interrogated, no identification procedures were conducted, there are not suspects in this case, the investigator took no measure to protect him from possible harassment, – point out lawyer of the Committee for the Prevention of Tortures Evgeny Litvinov representing the interests of Vener Mardamshin. – We are certainly planning to apply to the head of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Bashkortostan asking to withdraw immediately the criminal case from the Neftekamsk investigation department and transfer it to the department of major investigations for the Republic of Bashkortostan.”