Cadet corps

The young man was detained on the street. Immediately he had "discovered" drugs. In the police, a couple of batons were broken about him during interrogation, and it soon became clear: they overdid it. The detainee lost consciousness. The injections made by the called doctor did not help. The guy was carried away from the camera - and no one else saw him. And the notes in the registration documents were fed retroactively: firstly, he fell and broke down, and secondly, he left for himself, with his feet ...

An ordinary story for modern Russia. This is “detained - interrogated - released”, and then they find the body in the next wasteland - and it happened in Moscow. It is surprising rather that the policeman received eleven years of strict regime - under Articles 111 Part 3 (intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm with aggravating circumstances), 286 Part 3 (exceeding officials with aggravating circumstances) and 292 (official forgery) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. And the place seems completely incredible: formidable. It was there, in the October Provisional Department of the Interior (VOSD), on January 2, 2001, 26-year-old Zelimkhan Murdalov was tortured.

On Tuesday, March 29, in Grozny a verdict in the Cadet case was sentenced - such was the operational call sign of the police officer from Nizhnevartovsk Sergey Lapin. Lapin was in Grozny from November 3, 2000 to January 14, 2001 as part of the Consolidated Police (SOM) of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (Chechnya is not another planet: they sent ordinary policemen and other security forces from all over Russia here, as a group of detective terrorism and organized crime of October VOVD. This is the first case about the crimes of an employee of federal power structures against the civilian population, who listened to the Court of General Jurisdiction in Chechnya.

Article 126 of the Criminal Code is not mentioned in the verdict, but it is worth noting: this is the second case of the abduction of a person “feds” and his subsequent disappearance, which came to the court (the first was the case of Colonel Budanov), although the total number of “disappeared” during the Second Chechen-from three to five thousand people. More than 1800 criminal cases were instituted on the 126th-but, on a strange coincidence, as soon as the possible involvement of the “federals” is seen, the wording arises “due to the impossibility of establishing persons to be held accountable as accused” and the case is suspended.

Four to five years ago, the October VSD had an ominous glory: dozens of people "disappeared" here. One of the first were Ramzan Alaudinov, Sharip Khaysumov and Louise Bopaev, who went to the Grozny federal forces recently occupied by the federal forces to visit their apartments and disappeared. On April 17, 2000, they were detained by employees of the Oktyabrsky VSD and entered the temporary department building. When the relatives rushed to look for them, then unofficially, the Ministry of Internal Affairs admitted: "Yes, arrested" - and promised to help in the release for the ransom. In early May, it was possible to agree on the programs. But on May 11, relatives saw that the "security forces" with the cans entered the thoroughly protected multi -storey building adjacent to the VOSD, poured gasoline there and set it on fire. The FSB was connected to the investigation, and a few days later the investigator Zlygostev said: on the fourth or fifth floor of that house there are charred corpses of two men and women. A few days later, when sappers and employees of the Ministry of Emergencies arrived in place, there were no more corpses there. When the Khanty business trip ended and they left Grozny, the building was undermined, because, according to local residents, the remains of the "disappeared" lay in the basements. “Sixty-four unidentified corpses were discovered on the territory of the Oktyabrsky VVD ... This is generally some kind of Bermuda triangle,” says lawyer Stanislav Markelov.

The father of the "disappeared" Zelimkhan Astamir Murdalov rushed in search immediately, and when the investigation was suspended "due to impossibility," he himself conducted the necessary investigation. The son was seized on the street and delivered to the Oktyabrsky VSD, at the disposal of Major Prilepin, investigator Zhuravlev and the now convicted "cadet" of Lapin. On the night of January 3, he dragged the dying Murdalov into the camera. On the morning of January 3, the prosecutor tried to go to Vovd - he was allowed only after Zelimhan was fled ... Astamir himself found witnesses and achieved on March 2, 2001 a criminal case.

In September 2001, Anna Politkovskaya wrote about this in the article “The people of the endangered ones”, and soon threats began to come by e -mail - from the address Kadet@mmail.ru. The editors achieved a criminal case. It was possible to prove the authorship of emails, although in the course of the case the prosecutor's office intended to make a graphological examination ...

The investigation went jerking. In February 2002, Lapina was taken into custody, and he testified to his bosses, even agreed to show the place where the remains of Zelimkhan are located. But here the Khanty was again sent to Grozny: starting the second Chechen, the authorities believed that peace would be achieved in a couple of years, but two years later it was necessary to collect detachments again and send them to the Caucasus. The pressure began to witnesses: people in camouflage came to the armored personnel carriers and advised to be silent; However, the "support groups" visited the prosecutor's office itself. “Cadet”, meanwhile, was transferred to Pyatigorsk, and then completely released ...

Finally, in 2004, Stanislav Markelov, who goes to meaningless court sessions, enters this hopeless case: “Cadet” is not! But Markelov, as a defender of the victim, already participated in such an endless business - in the case of Colonel Budanov. At the end of January of this year, the lawyer (once again!) Came to Grozny, thinking that he would spend, as usual, for a day. But here Lapina is unexpectedly taken into custody, and the judicial investigation begins to work ...

And here is the verdict. Not in any Strasbourg-in Grozny! It looks like a Hollywood film: a lawyer, journalist and father of the victim challenges the enormous authorities - and win. However, the strength of court decisions in modern Russia is well known, and there is no doubt that the defense of Sergei Lapin is protesting the sentence.

But actually, it turns out that Zelimkhan Murdalov was not suspected of anything-they tried to “persuade him to cooperation” in this way, simply recruit, make him a snack. An operational, you see, an event. And it’s not a matter of Chechnya. The nightmare of the Oktyabrsky VVDA is the usual police arbitrariness in Russia, multiplied by absolute impunity. Employees of all regional power structures pass through the experience of Chechnya many times - and then they return with this experience. So the struggle of Astamir Murdalov for his son and for justice is a sample for the confrontation of lawlessness to the all-Russian. No wonder the defense in this case was supported by the Public Verdict Foundation, which is by no means dealing with Chechnya, but arbitrariness in law enforcement agencies. And the verdict "Cadet" protects each of us, everyone who walks along the streets of Russian cities.