The Moscow City Court overturned the decision to return the case of the murder of an anti-fascist for further investigation

On February 21, 2007, the Moscow City Court overturned the decision of the Nagatinskiy District Court to return for preliminary investigation the case of the attack on 19-year-old anti-fascist Alexander Ryukhin.

Recall, on January 15, the court of first instance decided to return the case for preliminary investigation to correct errors in the indictment. In particular, the Nagatinsky court considered it a mistake to divide the case into two separate criminal cases and partially terminate it under Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (murder) against three detained participants in the attack - activists of neo-fascist groups Vasily Reutsky, Andrey Antsiferov and Alexander Shitov. However, the Moscow City Court did not agree with this decision. As a result, the case of Reutsky, Antsiferov and Shitov will be considered by the same court of first instance separately and without charge under Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the Moscow City Court did not satisfy the cassation appeal of the defendants' lawyers, who asked to change the defendant's measure of restraint to one not related to detention. Thus, they will remain in custody until the Nagatinskiy Court decides on their case.

According to lawyer S. Markelov, the reasons for the decision of the Moscow City Court have not yet been announced. However, S. Markelov drew attention to the fact that the main role in the annulment of the decision of the Nagatinsky Court, apparently, was played not by the defense complaint, but by the cassation presentation of the prosecutor's office, which insisted on dividing the criminal case into two parts. "The court, in violation of the principle of competitiveness of the parties, assumed the unusual function of the prosecution, pointing out the groundlessness of the decision to terminate part of the criminal prosecution against Reutsky Antsiferov and Shitov ," the submission said.

On January 18, 2007, Alexander Bastrykin, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, announced that the Prosecutor General's Office took special control over the results of the criminal case and the search for persons involved in the murder. "Of course, the special control of the Prosecutor General's Office is good, however, given that the cassation submission was filed later than this date, I conclude that the division of the single criminal case on the murder into two separate cases, in one of which the defendants are charged only with hooliganism, this is not the position of the Prosecutor's Office of the Southern Administrative District, but of the Prosecutor General's Office itself ," S. Markelov noted.

The victim's lawyer also drew attention to the gross violation of the procedure for familiarizing the accused with the materials of the criminal case, which became known from the cassation presentation of the prosecutor's office.

As expected, the Nagatinsky Court within the next month will decide on setting the date for the consideration of the criminal case of Vasily Reutsky, Andrey Antsiferov and Alexander Shitov under Art. 213 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“hooliganism committed by a group of persons by prior agreement or by an organized group”) and Art. 115 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (intentional infliction of minor bodily harm).

Sources

• Anti-Fascist's Lawyer: Public Prosecution Takes on Defense Role // IA REGNUM. 2007. February 21.