On February 19, 2013 the Panel of judges on criminal cases of Privolzhsky district military court tried Petr Zavyalov’s cassation appeal on the sentence, that found him guilty in committing crimes provided for by paragraph “в” part 2 article 163 CC RF (extortion with violence) and paragraph “a”, “в” part 3 article 286 CC RF (excess of powers with violence and grave bodily harm), and was convicted to 7 years of custody. The Panel of judges decided to leave the sentence as it was and it entried into force. The human rights defenders still think that not all the guilty were punished.
(Petr Zavyalov in Kazansky garrison military court)
It is recalled, that on July 6, 2011 Nikolay Cherepanov addressed the office of the Committee against torture in Mary El Republic; he told that a month before a departure order in the evening of May 26, 2011 his son Aleksandr was found hanged in the drying room of the military unit №86277 deployed in Mary El Republic. There were multiple penetration-laceration wounds on the head and neck of the young man, traces of tying on his hands and burns on the face. Soldier’s parents didn’t believe he could commit suicide, besides several hours earlier he called the relatives and told them, that his comrades threatened him demanding money.
On December 4, 2012 a verdict was pronounced on junior sergeant of the reserve Petr Zavyalov in Kazansky garrison military court, he was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment. The convict didn’t agree with the court decision and in his cassation appeal asked to commute the sentence, as he found the term of imprisonment unreasonably long. He presented his arguments personally through teleconferencing from the investigative isolation ward in Kazan.
The deputy military prosecutor, who asked the court to leave the sentence unchanged, adhered to the position that the guilty verdict was passed in compliance with the criminal law and the punishment was appropriate to the committed crimes.
The Public Inquiry Inspector of the Committee against torture Dmitry Yalikov, who was present at the trial and represented victim’s interests, was satisfied by the decision of the Penal of judges, but he noted the following: “The sentence of the Kazansky garrison military court states, that such injuries as the bruise near the left ear, the abrasions of the auricle and the bruise on the upper lip appeared after the blows of Petr Zavyalov. But the experts recorded many other injuries on Aleksandr’s body. The investigation and the court failed to explain who had inflicted them shortly before Aleksandr’s death. The mentioned circumstances don’t conform with the European Court practice, as the state must give reasonable explanations of the reasons of the physical injuries. We still insist that several people took part in the crime with the connivance of the officials of the military unit. Therefore we will continue our work in order to find all the guilty and hold them criminally liable. Also we will soon prepare all the necessary documents to make a statement of claim for compensation for material and moral damage”.