In Moscow, investigators with the Investigative Committee dismissed a claim to open a criminal case with regard to an application of Sergey Ovsyannikov: he claims that in May of this year, the police officers performed numerous hits with hands and feet during the search in the headquarters of “Association of people’s resistance” organization. The lawyers with the Committee Against Torture will be appealing against this dismissal.
On 25 May 2020, Sergey Ovsyannikov, a member of the “Association of people’s resistance” organization, applied to the Committee Against Torture for legal assistance. He told human rights defenders that in the morning of 7 May 2020, armed police officers stormed into the headquarters of this organization in Moscow, where he and its other members were present. According to Sergey, he and other members of the organization lay on the floor and did not offer any resistance to the police officers; however, they started to kick them without any reason.
“One of the police officers pulled me up, having caught me by the neckband. After that he shouted: “Head down!” and I obeyed, at this moment the police officer held be by the back of my head and hit my head against his knee with an abrupt movement. I felt sharp pain, my nose bled, I lost my bearings and felt giddiness”, – Ovsyannikov recalls.
All who was in the apartment, were taken to the Department of the Interior for East Izmaylovo District of Moscow, and were released after conversations.
After the incident, Sergey applied for medical assistance to the medical aid station of City Hospital No.175 of Moscow, where he was diagnosed with: “Closed fracture of nose without displacement, contusion of soft tissues of the hairy skull, closed craniocerebral injury and brain concussion (in question)”. The neurologist’s examination and MRI scan confirmed the diagnosis: “Closed craniocerebral injury, brain concussion dated 07.05.2020”.
On 23 June, lawyers with the Committee Against Torture applied to the Investigative Committee on behalf of Sergey Ovsyannikov with a crime report.
On 10 September, investigator of the Izmaylovsky Interdistrict Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for Moscow Avskentyev passed a ruling dismissing the claim to open a criminal case. Today, human rights defenders received a copy of this ruling.
In this dismissal, the investigator retells the questioning of Sergey Ovsyannkov, performed by the lawyers with the Committee Against Torture (the investigator never questioned the applicant himself), and, “having evaluated the evidence based on one’s internal conviction, comes to a conclusion that the sufficient amount of data testifying the presence of a criminal event was not gathered during the check”.
“In fact, the only justification and motivation of the investigator is his “internal conviction’, because for over two months no checking activities on Sergey Ovsyannikov’s application were performed by the investigative authorities; they even failed to question the applicant himself, – lawyer with the Committee Against Torture Petr Khromov comments. – Now the court is examining the application against the inaction of the investigative body with regard to arranging a check. We will be appealing against the investigator’s dismissal”.