No charges for policeman who broke Moscow man’s jaw during ID check

Russia’s Investigative Committee has decided not to press charges against a policeman who allegedly assaulted a Moscow man in October, leaving him with a broken jaw, Russian NGO Crew Against Torture (CAT) reported Tuesday.

“The investigator didn’t provide a reason for refusing to launch criminal proceedings, although she was supposed to do so on 1 December,” CAT wrote.

Moscow resident Tamerlan Marzoyev was returning home from visiting friends with his wife on the evening of 14 October when they were stopped by police officers who asked to see their documents.

“He started asking me where I came from. I replied that I had been in Moscow since the seventh grade and was originally from North Ossetia. At which point he said, ‘Why did you have to move up here?’” Marzoyev explained.

Marzoyev said his wife had been angered by the policeman’s questions to him about his background and began arguing with him. Marzoyev told them that his wife was pregnant, and stood between them. One of the policemen then struck him several times in the jaw. Marzoyev fell and hit his head on the pavement, according to CAT.

The couple was taken to the police station where Marzoyev was subjected to racist abuse before being taken to a separate room where he was forced to undress and to perform three squats.

Later, Marzoyev was diagnosed with a broken jaw and bruising on his head, and had to undergo surgery in hospital.