Sergei Khurtin, a former policeman, is accused of crimes contemplated by Art. 286 (exceeding official powers committed with the use of violence and special means) and 111 (intentional infliction of a grave injury hazardous for human life) of the Russian Criminal Code. The court session will take place in the Nizhegorodsky District Court on September 13 at 15.00.

Photo: Dmitry Krutov after the operation
 
Let us recall that Dmitry Krutov, a resident of Nizhny Novgorod, applied for help to the Committee against Torture on March 22 this year saying he had been severely beaten in a police department. According to him, on February 12 he quarreled with his wife and at about 15.00 her relatives called for the police. The officers who arrived took Dmitry to Police Department No. 5, which is located in the Nizhegorodsky District of Nizhny Novgorod. There, they knocked him down and beat him severely, then placed him in a cell. Krutov was let to go home at about 19.00.
 
At home, he felt bad; he lost his consciousness a few times at night. Next morning, Dmitry’s mother called for an ambulance, which delivered him to Clinical Hospital No. 1, where he was urgently operated on. During the operation, he had a near-death experience, and the doctors hardly managed to resuscitate him, as he had lost much blood because of his internal injuries.
 
Notably, unlike in many other cases of torture in the police, criminal investigation was promptly commenced following the above facts by the Investigative Department for the Nizhegorodsky District of Nizhny Novgorod; Dmitry was recognized as the affected person; the investigation was accomplished; and the case forwarded to court.
 
Regardless of the fact that this case is a rare exception where the Committee against Torture actually plays a part of an observer, the lawyers of this human rights organization intend to represent the applicant’s interests in court tomorrow and seek for a fair court judgment.