After the fight

The prosecutor's office did not allow Zaur Tutov and his offenders to reconcile

The Izmailovo Court of Moscow yesterday handed down a verdict in the scandalous case of three Muscovites who beat up the Minister of Culture of Kabardino-Balkaria Zaur Tutov. The young people were found guilty under Art. 112-2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - intentional infliction of harm to health based on national hatred. According to investigators, the main hooligan, Stanislav Novokhatsky, received the least - a year of imprisonment in a penal colony. His accomplices Boris Kolodin and Evgeniy Konyshov were each sentenced to one and a half years. However, neither side is satisfied with the results of the eight-month trial.

The incident with Mr. Tutov occurred on the evening of April 1 near the Sokolinaya Gora cultural center, located on the capital’s Budyonny Avenue. According to the investigation, at approximately 20.15, Honored Artist of Russia Zaur Tutov left the building of the Palace of Culture with his daughter, who practices folk dancing there. At this time, near the entrance to the cultural center there was a group of young people who were drinking beer, celebrating the wedding of Yevgeny Konyshev. The conflict began when drunk people began shouting slogans: “Moscow for Muscovites”, “Khachi, go to your villages.” Zaur Tutov responded to the hooligans that “he is more Russian than they are.” This offended the young people, and they attacked the minister and beat him, breaking his cheekbone.

At the very first court hearing, the accused admitted their guilt and apologized to Mr. Tutov, telling him that “they were brought up in the spirit of internationalism and listened to his songs in childhood.” The injured minister asked the court to dismiss the case for reconciliation between the parties . But the prosecutor opposed this. A little later, the prosecutor's office demanded that the court give the accused from two to four years of imprisonment in a penal colony.

But the more lenient sentence left the participants in the process dissatisfied. “Well, how could it be possible to give Kolodin, who was infected with hepatitis B as a child, for a year and a half,” his lawyer Nikolai Mikhalev said yesterday. - Witnesses testified that Novokhatsky beat Tutov, but my client was not there. In our country, people are not imprisoned under such an article at all, but are given suspended sentences. We will appeal."

“We did not agree with the medical examination of Zaur Tutov, which influenced the determination of the more serious article of the Criminal Code. First, the victim was in the hospital for less than three weeks. Secondly, the doctor who spoke in court himself admitted that he had drawn a conclusion about the severity of the injuries inflicted on the minister, having failed to fully read his medical record, since it was clumsily written. They tried to talk about it at the trial, but they didn’t listen to us,” said Sergei Amfiteatrov, Yevgeny Konyshov’s defense attorney, indignantly.

“Not a single person can be satisfied that another has been convicted,” said Mr. Tutov’s lawyer, Ruslan Koblev, in turn. - The point is different. Regardless of nationality, you cannot beat a person. As for that examination itself, in his speech the expert clearly noted that the damaged cheekbone, which was assembled in parts, is nothing more than moderate harm to health.”

Alexey IVLEV