This decision has been taken today by judge Yevgeny Pyryev from the Nizhegorodsky district court of Nizhny Novgorod. On 29 June 2010 at 9.30 the court will pronounce the verdict for two officers of the 5th police department of the Nizhny Novgorod Directorate of the Interior – Timofeyev and Koreguin. Today the oral argument has finished, the accused have given their presentation of the case. They still claim that they are not involved in beating Mr. Yakimov and all their actions on 5 April 2009 were lawful and motivated.
You may remember that the policemen are charged under cl. “a”, “b”, p.3 Art. 286 of the RF Criminal Code (abuse of office, i.e. activity of an official that is clearly based on excess of powers and leads to violation of individual rights and interests, rights and interests of organizations or state and public interests protected by law committedwith violent treatment and application of special tools) and p.1 Art. 326 of the RF Criminal Code (destruction and damaging of official documents committed for personal reasons), p. 1 art. 119 (threat of homicide or infliction of grave damage to health when there are grounds to believe the threat to be real), cl. “d”, “e” p. 2 art. 117 (Infliction of physical or moral suffering by means of systematic battery or other types of violent treatment, if such treatment does not lead to consequences described in articles 111 and 112 of the RF Criminal Code, committed with application of torture and by a group of people by previous concert).
In spring 2009 Alexey Yakimov applied to the Interregional Committee against Torture claiming that he had been abused by the police. Thanks to the efforts of the CAT, at the end of April 2009 the investigation authorities had to start a criminal case upon the fact of Yakimov’s battery. At present the Interregional Committee Against Torture is representing the victim’s interests in court.