The NN Committee Against Torture has received a reply from the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Prosecutor’s Office of 22 March 2007 signed by the first deputy prosecutor of Nizhny Novgorod Region Mr. V.V. Tkachev. As you remember we forwarded a statement to the prosecutor’s office concerning breaches of the law committed by law enforcement officials of PavlovoCity a month ago.

    According to the reply, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Prosecutor’s Office inquired into allegations of the NN Committee Against Torture, concerning breaches of the law committed by Pavlovo City prosecutor, and concluded that his reply of 30 January 2007 to Ms. M. Andronova’s application of 07.01.2007, concerning an inquiry by way of procedure provided for by art. 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, had been ungrounded because by that time he had already made a disposition.

    You may remember that on 30 January 2007 prosecutor of Pavlovo City S. Lebedev in his written reply to Ms. Andronova’s application informed her that “the Pavlovo City Prosecutor’s Office was currently carrying out an inquiry by way of procedure provided for by art. 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code” in respect of her application. However, the day before, on 29 January 2007 Mr. S. Lebedev had already made a disposition to dismiss the matter.   

    The reply of the regional prosecutor’s office also says that the prosecutor of Pavlovo City has been reprimanded for negligent fulfillment of his duties and warned that if such violations took place again he would be subjected to a disciplinary penalty.