Alexey Kozlov. Assassination of Amaru Lima: Event Review

We are publishing the abstracts of a review report by Alexei Kozlov (Voronezh) delivered at the seminar "Counteracting Radical Nationalism: Problems and Good Practices" held in Moscow on April 26, 2005. The report is dedicated to the investigation into the murder of African student Amaru Lima in February 2004.

On February 21, 2004, in the center of Voronezh, not far from the student dormitory of the Voronezh State Medical Academy (VSMA), a group of thugs attacked a student from Guinea-Bissau, Amara Lima. From the inflicted stab wounds, the African died in the emergency department of the nearest hospital. According to investigators, the motive for the murder was racial hatred. This high-profile murder provoked numerous protests by African students. During the week they boycotted classes, demanding that the mayor of Voronezh, the governor of the Voronezh region, the local police department and the FSB ensure the safety of their residence in the city.

At first, criminal investigation officers repeatedly told reporters that Amara Lima was killed for drug trafficking or because of a conflict over a girl. However, during interrogations, it turned out that Roman Ledenev and Yevgeny Shishlov were once members of the Russian National Unity. During a search of the apartments of all the detainees, racist literature, RNU uniforms, stripes and notebooks with arguments about the superiority of the white race were found.

The defendants in the case were a 16-year-old student of a law college and two loaders, aged 19 and 21. The defendants completed their familiarization with the case and demanded that they be tried by a jury. During the investigation, a robbery attack on a Vietnamese citizen in Voronezh was also uncovered. It should be noted that the murder of an African student led to some changes in the work of law enforcement agencies - all cases of statements from foreigners were checked, more than 30 cases were resumed. Moreover, it turned out that two of Amaru Lim's killers had earlier, in 2002, been detained and acquitted by the court for "an unmotivated attack" on a foreign student. The prosecutor's office began checking the legality of the actions of officials (including judges) in this case. The prosecutor of the region Alexander Ponomarev on the facts of the committed violations addressed to the head of the Voronezh Central Internal Affairs Directorate was sent a presentation. [1] .

Court hearings were postponed several times due to the failure of the injured party to appear in court. Finally, on Thursday, the consul of Guinea-Bissau in Russia, Ansumane Qatar, arrived in Voronezh. The parents of the deceased could not come to Russia. The meetings were held behind closed doors, the press and even the relatives of the defendants were not allowed into the hall. One of the defendants, Yevgeny Shishlov, partially admitted the charges at the first court session, explaining that he killed the foreigner not because of racial, but out of personal hostility, but he refused to name her motive. The other two defendants plead not guilty. By the way, Roman Ledenev during the preliminary hearing demanded that the case be heard by a jury. However, upon learning that their verdict was not subject to appeal, Ledenev withdrew the petition.

During the investigation, all three suspects gave confessions. However, the motives were discussed in different ways. One - that "he was going to kill some black", the second - that he "did not want to kill", the third one was simply "it was interesting to fight with a foreigner". [2]

The prosecutor's office of the Voronezh region established that one of the three young people detained on suspicion of murder at the end of 2003 attacked another student from Guinea-Bissau with a knife and wounded him. Now the two cases are merged into one [3] .

In April, as the official position of the authorities of the Voronezh region on the problem, on the official website of the regional administration gubern.ru the report "When a tragedy turns into a scandal" was presented . As an illustration, here is a fragment of this report:

*"After the murder of a foreign student of the Medical Academy, panic arose in the city: the most incredible rumors spread about racism and that foreigners in our city live like in a minefield. The situation was aggravated by disturbing publications in the media. Some foreign students, fearing for their lives , were about to leave for home, the rest refused to study until their safety was ensured.The last straw was the attempt on the life of a Russian girl, committed, according to unproven data, by a man with black skin. thought: "Maybe this is revenge? Is a real national conflict growing?"

At the same time, the media stubbornly ignored the fact that the "national" version of the murder of a student in the Republic of Guinea-Bissau is just one of several working versions of the investigation, just like in the case with the Russian girl.

Another question arises: who needed to escalate the situation around these two crimes? “It is not clear why raise an unnecessary panic, when only the investigation can prove from whose hand Amaru died. And the same investigation will prove whether there is a connection between this murder and the attempt on a Russian girl. Crime has no skin color, no religion. And if it will be proved that it was a black man who stabbed the Russian girl, I will be the first to say that he must answer according to the law. "*

Anised Kochofu, President of the Association of International Students in Russia, was also supported by Rogerno Erbert: “I came to seriously understand the situation: we were scared that no one needed foreigners here and no one would protect them. Therefore, immediately after our arrival, we talked with the prosecutor’s office and the police, with the heads of the city and regional administrations, with the rectors of universities, and the students themselves.After these meetings, it became absolutely clear to me that in Voronezh they are taking all measures not only to solve the crime, but also to ensure the safety of foreign students. And for this, I sincerely express my gratitude from the embassy of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau to the leaders of the city and region " .

The authorities really did their best not only to defuse the situation, but also to really understand the situation: the regional prosecutor's office, together with the operational services of the Main Internal Affairs Directorate and the FSB, took up the murder of a student from Guinea. At a meeting of heads of law enforcement structures and an emergency meeting of the council of rectors of Voronezh universities, all measures were developed to prevent panic from turning into a serious conflict. According to Yakov Lvovich, head of the main department of education of the regional administration, the deputy prosecutor general of Russia and the Minister of Education of the Russian Federation have taken the case under personal control.

Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Nikita Bantsekin stressed that the scandal with the murder of Amaru Lim is an example of how a single incident, turned into a sensation, caused damage to all of Russia as a whole. After all, our face in the world community very much depends on how we ensure the safety of foreigners in Russia, how we receive them. Nikita Bantsekin added that the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation will closely monitor the progress of the investigation.

In conclusion, the President of the Association of Foreign Students in Russia, Anised Kochofa, said a few more words: “Over the past 10 years, only 7 crimes against foreigners have been registered in Voronezh, and not one of them was committed on ethnic grounds. We are very grateful to the Voronezh Region for the fact that "she accepts and teaches our students. Officially we want to say a huge thank you to all the residents of the city, teachers, for their kind attitude. This year we want to create a branch of the Association of Foreign Students in Voronezh. And the goal of our Association is not only to organize festivals and concerts, but also take part in the daily life of the city, establish friendly ties. And at the moment the main thing is not to let the provocateurs turn around, who make a sensation out of the tragedy. We contacted the parents of Amaru Lima, and they confirmed that they have neither Russia nor the university any claims. They say that anything can happen both in their country and in our country. The only thing they really want is for the criminals to be found and punished." . [4]

The central event of June was the visit of Vladmir Petrovich Lukin, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation. The main reason for his visit to Voronezh was the racially motivated murder of Amaru Lim, a student at the Voronezh Medical Academy. The Ombudsman supported the holding of a round table "Combating Xenophobia and Racism" jointly with human rights organizations, in which Georgy Fridrikhovich Kunadze, head of the Ombudsman's office in the Russian Federation, took part. Vladimir Petrovich supported the proposal of the Voronezh human rights activists to create a Public Council for overcoming xenophobia, racial and national hatred under the administration of the Voronezh region.

On July 15, the prosecutor's office of the Voronezh region submitted to court a criminal case on the murder of an African student, Amaru-Lim. Three young people were charged under the article "Murder by a group of persons by prior conspiracy on the basis of racial and national hatred" [5] .

On August 12, the trial of three Voronezh residents who are accused of murdering Amaru Lim, a citizen of Guinea-Bissau, on the basis of racial hatred, began. The defendants deny their guilt. The state prosecutor pointed out that all three defendants profess the moral and physical superiority of the Caucasian race. The process was attended by the Consul of Guinea-Bissau Ansumane Qatar [6] .

On September 24, the verdict on the murderers of the African student was announced. from Guinea-Bissau. The state prosecutor asked for Yevgeny Shishlov 17 years of strict regime (deliberate infliction of bodily harm, murder on the basis of national, racial hostility), for a minor Vladimir Kakushkin - 9 years, for Roman Ledenev (complicity in the commission of murder) - 10 years. The consul of Guinea-Bissau, Ansumane Qatar, who was present at the trial, demanded that the killers compensate for moral damages in the amount of 150,000 rubles. [7]

On September 30, the verdict was handed down. Only Shishlov admitted his guilt. All the defendants intend to appeal against the decision of the court [8] . In February 2005, the verdict entered into force.

[1] The Voronezh prosecutor's office referred the case of the murder of an African to the court. // CRY.ru; Morning.Ru.

[2] "Kill someone black" // Gzt.ru.

[3] The prosecutor's office checks cases of attacks on foreigners - Voronezh Review No. 16 (173) of April 14, 2004.

[4] Voronezh region - 01.03.04 12:33 Press center of the administration of the Voronezh region

[5] Kommersant - Chernozem region of July 16, No. 128

[6] Kommersant-Chernozemye of August 13, 2004

[7] Kommersant - Chernozem region of September 25, Voronezh courier No. 109 (2161) of September 28, 2004, AiF - Chernozem region No. 39 (485) September 2004

[8] Newspaper "Gazeta" of September 30, NEWSru.com, Mine! No. 40 (516), etc.