Sergey Mitin. Ph. Vasily Kolotilov for the “Takie dela”

The Department of the Investigating Committee for the Nizhny Novgorod region dismissed a criminal case based on the fact of a battery of apprehended Sergey Moderatov and Sergey Mitin, due to “absence of the element of crime”. Thus, the investigator sided with the police officers, who claimed that they did not use violence.    

The criminal case on abuse of office (Article 286 of the Criminal Code) against the police officers was opened in 2021 after lawyers with the Committee Against Torture applied to head of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the Nizhny Novgorod region Ayrat Akhmetshin. Before that, the district investigators issued three dismissals of claims to open a criminal case.   

The incident happened in October 2019.  According to the applicants, the police officers with the Knyaginisky Department of the Interior for the Buturlinsky District of the Nizhny Novgorod region were beating up the detained, putting gas mask on them and choked them, threated to pull out their teeth and shoot them. At that time Mitin was 22 years old, and Moderatov – 16.

After that, Moderatov was put to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with a closed craniocerebral injury, contusions of the neck, low back and shank. Later on, the medical forensic expert concluded that Sergey was inflicted mild health damage. However, even the state expert examination did not convince the investigator and he pointed out in his ruling that Moderatov “could as well malinger”, simulating the symptoms of craniocerebral injury.

Sergey Mitin has an independent psychiatric forensic expert, who established a grave health damage. In addition, Mitin has a congenital disease “mental deficiency”. District psychiatrist, whom Sergey visits regularly, points out that after the incident his psychic condition deteriorated. In addition, an independent psychotherapist diagnosed him with anxiety phobic disorder. The mother of the victim said that he shrank into himself, started to shiver regularly and experience a strong fear of police officers. The investigator assigned a state forensic psychiatric expert examination, but the state experts did not see the signs of this disorder in Mitin.    

— The investigator exceeded the boundaries of his competence and considered the diagnosis of Moderatov, established by the doctors and the experts, to be a simulation, and Mitin’s disorder to be a fake, — lawyer with the Committee Against Torture Kristina Diogidze comments. — We intend to appeal against this ruling as illegal and conduct additional examinations of Sergey Mitin due to the developed disagreements between state experts and independent doctors and specialists.