Systematic inaction of the investigator and the superiors of the Pavlovskiy Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Nizhny Novgorod region during the investigation of the criminal case based on the facts of torture of entrepreneur Oleg Krayoushkin in the police department in 2012 forced the lawyer of INGO «The Committee Against Torture» to apply to the Head of the regional Investigative Committee Andrey Vinogradov during the personal appointment with a request to transfer the criminal case to the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Nizhny Novgorod region. In addition, human rights defenders intend to apply to the European Court with a complaint on behalf of Krayoushkin.
(Photo: lawyer of the Committee for Prevention of Torture Ilya Khorshev)
Lawyer of the Committee for Prevention of Torture Ilya Khorshev visited Mr Vinogradov because of the latest, 7th in succession, ruling on suspending the criminal case of entrepreneur Oleg Krayoushkin’s torture, which was initiated back in August 2013 – once again the investigators failed to identify the police officers that tortured Oleg, despite the fact that during the interrogation he named the persons who took part in his battery in September 2012.
It is worth noting that previously human rights defenders repeatedly complained against the inaction of the authorities of the Pavlovskiy Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Russian Federation for the Nizhny Novgorod region, so both the investigators and the head of this department were subjected to disciplinary action. However, it did not produce effective results.
As we have previously reported, in September 2012 businessman from Pavlovo city Oleg Krayushkin applied to the INGO «Committee Against Torture» for legal assistance. According to Oleg, on 11 September 2012 he was subjected to torture by police officers in one of the rooms of the Pavlovskiy police department following numerous demands to confess to stealing a sawmill. The policemen forced the applicant to take off his boots and to kneel – and started hitting him with a rubber truncheon on his feet. The applicant also stated that one of the police officers occasionally hit him with his palms in the ears, face, and groin area. After about three hours of torture the officers, having failed to obtain a confession statement, took Oleg to a temporary detention facility of Sosnovskoye district police department and after a few days released him. A criminal case was initiated against the entrepreneur, however, it collapsed soon, and real culprits were brought to justice.
Oleg Krayoushkin, in his turn, decided not to leave unpunished the actions of the police officers who did not even make an effort to apologize. So the entrepreneur submitted a complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office, the Investigative Committee, as well as to human rights defenders from the Committee Against Torture.
Despite the evidence of the elements of crime the investigator did not open the criminal case for a year, having issued eight unlawful refusals to initiate criminal proceedings. Only after the members of the Committee Against Torture organized a psychophysiological study on polygraph detector, which confirmed that Oleg’s words are true, as well as initiated the entrepreneur’s personal appointment with the head of the regional Investigative Committee Vladimir Stravinskas, a criminal case under item «а» part 3 Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was initiated on 16 August 2013.
However, the victim himself as well as the human rights defenders were deeply concerned by the snail-paced progress of the investigation: initial investigative actions with Krayoushkin were performed only in April 2014. These concerns appeared to be grounded: from the moment of the opening the case was suspended seven times already due to failure to identify the culprits.
«Due to the fact that the investigation has been going round in circles for several years already, committing grave law breakings, and persons who tortured Oleg Krayoushkin have never been brought to justice, we decided to apply to head of the Investigative Committee Andrey Vinogradov during the personal appointment asking him to denounce the ruling on suspending the criminal case, to transfer the criminal case to the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Nizhny Novgorod region, and to take personal supervision over this investigation. In addition, we intend to apply to the European Court with a complaint on behalf of Krayoushkin», – lawyer of the Committee for Prevention of Torture Ilya Khorshev commented on the situation.