For ten years the law enforcement bodies cannot identify and punish the culprits.

   On 14 April 2010 judge Natalia Yesina from the Prioksky district court tried the appeal of Israeli Vitaly Isakov against the decision to suspend pre-trial investigation under the criminal case where Vitaly is a victim.  

You may remember that Mr. Isakov was unlawfully detained and abused by officers of the Volgo-Vyatsky Directorate for Combating Organized Crime in March 2000. After Vitaly applied to the Interregional Committee against Torture for help, the Prosecutor’s Office started criminal proceedings, however, later they were suspended many times. The investigators claimed that they could not find those in charge of Isakov’s battery, although the victim many times stated they he could identify the officers who had battered him. In course of identification parades he pointed at certain officers who had abused him.

The Committee lawyers many times appealed against the decision to suspend the preliminary investigation, however within ten years the Prosecutor’s office and investigation authorities have not found the perpetrators.

Having considered the appeal, the court found the decision to suspend the preliminary investigation unlawful and unmotivated. It should be mentioned that the Prosecutor asked the court to dismiss the appeal.   However, the court supported Mr. Isakov and the Committee against Torture. In its ruling judge Yesina held that all people in charge of Isakov’s detention and taking him to the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime had been identified, but the investigator had done nothing to find those to be brought into the proceedings as the accused (suspects). The court also stated that initially there had been no grounds to suspend the criminal case.

Lawyers of the Committee against Torture hope that now the investigation authorities are going to pay more attention to this criminal case, and those in charge of beating the foreigner will be held accountable.