Today the criminal division of the Bashkirian Supreme Court has cancelled the verdict of innocent in respect of junior sergeant of the patrol and point duty police service of the Oktyabrsky Department of the Interior V.F. Litvinov charged with abuse of powers and violent treatment (art. 286 of the RF CC).

On 5 December 2007, in the city of Oktyabrsky in Bashkiria junior sergeant of the police V.F. Litvinov together with senior sergeant of the police P.N. Timofeyev detained Mr. E.E. Guseynov. When Mr. Guseynov was taken to the police station, the officers twisted his arms behind his back without explaining anything. As a result Mr. Litvinov broke Mr. Guseynov’s arm.

The Oktyabrsky Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigation Administration of the Investigation Committee under the RF Prosecutor’s Office for Bashkiria opened a criminal case upon this fact. Senior investigator A.A. Rysmukhametov conducted an effective investigation. On 5 June 2008 the Oktyabrsky city court convicted Mr. Litvinov under cl. “a”, p. 3 of art. 286 of the RF CC and sentenced him to 3 years of imprisonment conditionally.  The Bashkirian Supreme Court cancelled that verdict because of procedural violations. On 13 February 2009 the Oktyabrsky city court acquitted Mr. Litvinov due to lack of corpus delicti. After that Mr. Guseynov applied to the Committee against Torture. The Bashkirian representation of the Committee conducted a public investigation which showed that the junior sergeant’s actions could be qualified as cruel or degrading treatment breaching article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, since he had incurred physical suffering to Mr. Guseynov.

Lawyers of the Bashkirian representation of the Committee prepared a cassation appeal against the acquittal, as the human rights defenders thought that the preliminary and official investigation had established Mr. Litvinov’s guilt, and the city court verdict was unlawful and unmotivated and was subject to cancellation due to lack of connection to the circumstances of the case. The Committee against Torture provided a lawyer to Mr. Guseynov.