The Commission for Juvenile Affairs dismissed an administrative case against Valery S. with regard to his involvement in an unsanctioned action, who was beaten up by the police officers during apprehension at the rally when he was 17. Lawyer with the Committee Against Torture Petr Khromov reported on this.
Officers of the 2nd special police regiment apprehended Valery on 31 January 2021 at the Moscow rally. It happened when a teenager with his stepfather were walking towards their home passing a group of protesters. When a girl fell near them, Valery helped her to get up. Then, police officers ran up to the teenager, held him by the shoulders and brought him down on the ground. He recalled that he was hit three times. According to Valery, he did not offer any resistance to the police officers.
After the apprehension, the teenager was taken to the District Police Department and a protocol was drawn up with regard to him concerning his involvement in an unauthorized event (Part 6.1 of Article 20.2 of the Criminal Procedural Code). It was Valery’s mother who picked him up from the police department. Back home, she paid attention to the red marks of rubber truncheon impact and she applied to the first-aid station. The teenager was hospitalized and, five days later, he was released from hospital with a diagnosis “contusion of a lumber region on the left”. The psychological survey conducted later established that the teenager was psychologically injured by what happened. Lawyer with the Committee Against Torture Petr Khromov submitted a report on the battery of a teenager to the Investigative Committee. Despite the requirements of the legislation, the officers of the Chief Directorate of the Investigative Committee registered this as a citizen’s application which allowed them to avoid the pre-investigative check. The crime report was submitted to the department of internal security with the Department of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia for Moscow – specifically to the body the officers of which were accused of the battery by the citizen.
Petr Khromov applied to the Commission for Juvenile Affairs of the Lefortovo District with a request to dismiss the administrative case of Valery due to absence of the element of crime, but the Commission dismissed the request.
Then the Commission declared the teenager to be guilty and fined him for 10 thousand rubles. After Khromov’s complaint, the Lefortovo Court quashed this ruling and submitted the case for the new examination. The court ruling mentioned that the Commission officers did not explain the witnesses their rights and duties, including the right not to incriminate against oneself and close relatives, guaranteed by 51 of the Constitution of the RF, as well the fact that they did not submit the video of the apprehension to the court.
During the new examination, the Commission took into consideration the ruling of the Lefortovo court, examined the materials, including the ones, attached by the defense and came to the conclusion that Valery did not commit a crime. As a result, the case was dismissed.
“The Commission for Juvenile Affairs did not find a criminal content in the actions of Valery, — lawyer with the Committee Against Torture Petr Khromov comments. — It means that the apprehension of this young man was illegal. We hope that in the light of the Commission’s ruling the Investigative Committee will check the application submitted by Valery S. against the violence applied against him by the police officers”.