On 5 February 2016 the Demsky District Court of Ufa will pronounce a verdict for three police officers of the Criminal Investigations Department of Police Department No.1 of the Russian Federation Department of Interior for Ufa Vadim Fattakhov, Anton Demin and Denis Khouziakhmetov. They are charged with committing a crime under Article 286 (3) (a), (b) of Russian Criminal Code (exceeding official powers with use of violence and special equipment). In the course of the court hearing the state prosecutor requested a punishment in the form of four years prison term to three defendants.
(Screenshot from the «Vsya Ufa» television company TV-report)
As we have previously reported, in February 2013 a 17-year-old citizen of the Ufa town Denis Govorun appealed for help to the office of IRPO «Committee Against Torture» in Bashkiria. He accused local policemen of torture.
Denis told the human rights defenders that in the morning January 28, 2013 he was coming back from volleyball competitions in Samara town. Two policemen in civilian approached him at the «Dema» railway station, they showed a police ID and asked to go with them. In the police department №1 of the Demsky district of Ufa they began to «break» him to confess that he participated in a cafe theft on the night of 6/7 January 2013. Denis’s answer that he had nothing to do with that crime didn’t satisfy them and three police officers put him on the floor and tied him up. He sat like this for half an hour or so. Then the policemen untied him and went on with the talk, but Denis still insisted, he knew nothing of the theft. According to Denis, they started to beat him with hands and a rubber club.
Then, as the applicant claims, they used the so-called «televisor (TV)» torture. They manacled his hands, seated him on the floor, tied his legs with a rope and wound it around his neck, having put a towel on it beforehand in order not to leave marks. After that the policemen pulled his head to his legs and fixed him like that for 30 minutes.
As Denis told, only after three hours of his detainment a children’s officer came to the room; about 10 in the evening they let him go from the police department, his mother and friend were waiting out front because policemen wouldn’t let them in.
They went home together, then to a first-aid center, where the fact of beating was stated and the young man received a certificate about multiple bruises and hematomas; after that they went to the Investigative Committee and Denis wrote a crime report.
On 1 March 2013 investigative authorities of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Bashkortostan a criminal case was initiated against the police officer of the Criminal Investigations Department of Police Department No.1 of the Russian Federation Department of Interior for Ufa (Demsky district) Vadim Fattakhov on suspicion of committing a crime under Article 286 (3) (a), (b) of Russian Criminal Code (exceeding official powers with use of violence and special equipment).
In their turn the lawyers of the Committee Against Torture carried out a public inquiry on Denis Govorun’s application. It involved the evidence of the applicant’s version, as well as legal assistance of this case at the stage of pre-trial investigation: they took part in the investigative activities, filed necessary motions.
Upon the completion of pre-trial investigation the case was submitted to the prosecutor, but he returned the criminal case for re-investigation twice. So, the supervisory authority officer’s uncompromising stand increased the number of suspects from one to three. At last, in August 2014 the case was submitted to the prosecutor of the Demsky district one more time, and he approved the indictment and referred the case to court.