Cleanup in the Stavropol Territory

On the night of June 11-12, 205, soldiers of the Stavropol riot police carried out a cleansing operation in the village of Ivanovskoye, Kochubeevsky district, Stavropol Territory. 38 people from 14 to 23 years old were detained.

A group of Stavropol riot police officers, armed with machine guns and rubber batons, for no apparent reason detained a group of young people near a recreation center where a disco was taking place. The riot police, without explanation, pushed the detainees into a service bus, where they could only stand, and took them to the Kochubeevsky District Department of Internal Affairs. There the victims were placed facing the wall with their hands raised. The detainees were illegally photographed, fingerprinted, and had their mobile phones taken away. According to the victims, the police pushed them, intimidated them and struck them with blows that did not leave bruises.

The detainees were released only around two o'clock in the morning. Neither the local residents, nor the village administration, nor the local police officer of the Kochubeevsky District Department of Internal Affairs knew about the police operation.

On June 12, 2005, outraged villagers demanded that the authorities look into the situation. All those affected by the actions of the police contacted the prosecutor's office with statements about unlawful actions of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

According to the police department, the reason for the “check” was the difficult crime situation in the area. Police representatives note that the raid yielded positive results: for example, a murder suspect was detained, and two robberies were solved, the participants of which were arrested.

However, residents of Ivanovo believe that the riot police took revenge for their fallen comrade (in May, a 29-year-old soldier of the Stavropol riot police was killed in Nevinnomyssk). Local residents believe that riot police decided to organize a raid in Ivanovsky because young people from all over the area come to the local disco.

On June 17, 2005, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Stavropol Territory, Alexey Selyukov, sent a statement to the prosecutor of the Stavropol Territory, Valery Kalugin, about gross and massive violations of human rights in Ivanovsky.

On June 19, 2005, the head of the municipal council of the Kochubeevsky district of the Stavropol Territory, Gennady Skarga, admitted that employees of the Stavropol riot police and the Kochubeyevsky district police department committed “abuse of official authority” and were punished (and some lost their posts), but categorically rejected the accusations of the use of force.

However, expert of the movement “For Human Rights” Evgeny Ikhlov suggested that the police continue to act in accordance with the “Manual on planning and preparing the forces and means of internal affairs bodies and internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for actions in emergency circumstances.” “Raids and beatings of residents occur simply because law enforcement officers have a free hand - and as long as the order is in effect, nothing can stop them,” says E. Ikhlov.

On June 22, 2005, it became known that the prosecutor's office of the Stavropol Territory had completed an investigation into the riot police operation in the village. Ivanovsky and refused to initiate a criminal case due to the lack of corpus delicti under Part 1 of Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“exceeding official powers”).

Sources

• Sidorov A., Vermisheva E. The village was attacked by riot police // Gazeta.Ru. 2005. June 15.
• The Stavropol Ombudsman sent a statement to the prosecutor about violations in Kochubeevsky // REGNUM news agency. 2005. June 17.
• In the Stavropol Territory, a number of police officials were removed from their posts // Lenta.Ru. 2005. June 19.
• The prosecutor's office refused to initiate a criminal case regarding the riot police operation (Stavropol region) // REGNUM news agency. 2005. June 22.