Translated material
Alone and without protection
The authorities were unable to protect the witness who testified against the police
A loud corruption scandal broke out in Arkhangelsk. Criminal cases have been initiated against a number of high-ranking employees of the local Organized Crime Control Department. The police are accused of extorting regional businessmen and committing fraud. The main witness, who gave sensational testimony against the Organized Crime Control Department officers, has been forced to hide for a year now. The person fears - and not without reason - revenge from some colleagues of the detained police officers. And the authorities, who pledged to protect witnesses and victims, all this time denied him this right guaranteed by a special law.Numerous appeals to the Prosecutor General's Office, which is charged with overseeing compliance with the law, and to the Department for Combating Organized Crime and Terrorism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is responsible for the safety of witnesses, had no effect. What should a person do if he, as a witness, must be protected by the very people he is hiding from - law enforcement officers? This question remained unresolved for him. Driven to despair, he turned to the Vremya Novostei newspaper for help and told our correspondent about his misadventures.
This whole criminal epic, as already mentioned, is unfolding in Arkhangelsk. Its main character, 43-year-old Mikhail Ivanov (this man's last name has been changed for obvious reasons), was once convicted of fraud. He served his sentence by 2000, but he was never able to be released with a clear conscience, since some employees of the local Organized Crime Control Department decided to use his services to solve their own, purely selfish problems. “After I returned from prison, officers from the Arkhangelsk Organized Crime Control Department invited me to a meeting and offered me cooperation,” says Mikhail. - The operatives wanted me to carry out their instructions, which would “contribute to the successful fight against organized crime.” True, this proposal was of a voluntary-compulsory nature. In case of refusal to cooperate, according to Mikhail, the police threatened that the city’s criminal environment would immediately become aware of who exactly was collaborating with their “anti-mafia department.” And with informers, as you know, the conversation is short. Then it seemed to Mikhail that he had no other choice but to accept the conditions offered to him. And the prosecutor's investigation into the case of corrupt fighters against organized crime confirmed that the man acted under duress.
In fact, there was no talk of any assistance in the fight against crime, which the Organized Crime Control Department was supposed to deal with. On the contrary, the police themselves have turned from defenders of law and order into criminals. Through the mediation of Mikhail, who played the role of a gangster “roof,” they imitated “attacks” on Arkhangelsk entrepreneurs, and then extorted money from them for “getting rid” of crime, essentially imposing their “police roof” on local businesses. Here’s how Mikhail himself talks about it: “The anti-mafia department protected entrepreneurs. When the police were unable to reach an agreement with the businessmen, they turned to me. Entire performances were performed to influence the intractable. I, under the guise of a bandit, first attacked businessmen, who in turn ran to the Organized Crime Control Department for help. And there they were already waiting. After carefully listening to the “victim,” the operatives told the entrepreneur that, they say, indeed, a strong criminal group had appeared in the city, which could not be dealt with “so easily.” What followed was a banal scam of businessmen for money.”
Getting out from under such police “guardianship” meant greatly risking not only your own life and health, but also the safety of your loved ones. Any attempts at disobedience were suppressed quickly and harshly. “Twice, together with one of the employees of the Organized Crime Control Department, I went to their debtor in his car,” recalls Mikhail. — The operative took a canister of gasoline with him. While he waited downstairs, I set the door on fire. The first time it was unsuccessful, the door did not light up. But in the second it flared up as it should. The man took the hint and returned the money.”
Having once agreed to “cooperate,” Mikhail himself found himself tied by one thread with his accomplices in uniform. As a rule, he says, senior investigators from various departments for the fight against organized crime and terrorism approached him with “important assignments.” He didn’t work, however, for nothing - for each such “assignment,” he said, they paid an average of $500. “If I couldn’t do the work myself, they offered to find someone who could do it for me.” “, Mikhail continues the story and recalls another episode that gives an idea of his “usual” responsibilities: “In March last year, the Organized Crime Control Department officers again turned to me for help. They needed to “run into” the owner of the shoe store. They wanted her to start paying them two thousand dollars a month instead of $400. The operator himself developed the plan for the entire event. I, under the guise of a buyer, was supposed to buy women's boots in her store on Pomorskaya Street. And a week later, return them and, in addition to compensation for the poor-quality goods, also demand compensation for moral damages - they say, the heel of the boot fell off, the girl fell and injured her leg. If the store refused to satisfy my demands, then according to the scenario I was supposed to threaten the owner, who, according to the police, would then turn to them for help.” The performance was played out like clockwork. But the police did not manage to get an ovation - the woman refused to pay the bribe that was inflated by one and a half times. For which, in fact, her family had to pay. “First they beat her husband, by the way, a former policeman, making him disabled. Then someone fired from a machine gun at the windows of the children’s room in the apartment of the owner of the shoe store,” says Mikhail. But this method of “persuasion” this time did not give the expected result. The woman turned out to be not a timid person and turned to the Arkhangelsk Regional Prosecutor's Office for help.
This episode became the first in the case of Arkhangelsk “werewolves in uniform.” The act of the owner of the shoe store gave courage to Mikhail, who also followed her to the prosecutor’s office and laid out everything as best he could. “The investigator was shocked by my stories, and at first, it seemed, he didn’t even believe me,” he shared his first impression of the conversation at the prosecutor’s office.
However, from the moment Mikhail decided to throw off the police yoke, his problems did not end, but, on the contrary, only became more complicated. As a result, he found himself in the position of a hunted animal, who finds it difficult to find salvation from hunters to get even. Mikhail said that approximately at the same time as his appeal to the prosecutor’s office, one large Arkhangelsk businessman asked him to help remove two of his competitors. Having refused, he complained to the police, where, according to him, he was offered to record the conversation with the businessman on tape. “I refused to go to a meeting with the customer with a healthy cassette recorder - with such equipment they would have easily identified me. I had to buy a digital voice recorder. And then, with the recording of the conversation, I again went to the prosecutor's office. But I was sent to another investigator, and he refused to initiate a criminal case. Literally a few days after my return visit to the prosecutor’s office, the person who ordered the murder became aware of my actions. Then I realized that both the police officers and that businessman could simply roll me into the asphalt. And then I decided to run,” says Mikhail.
In the case of extorting money from the owner of a shoe store, Mikhail Ivanov is the main witness, and his testimony largely determines what other facts of criminal activity the crime fighters will eventually be able to prove. The investigator of the Arkhangelsk Regional Prosecutor's Office, who was entrusted with conducting the investigation, also understood this. He saw that the witness was in danger, and petitioned the prosecutor to apply measures against Mikhail provided for by the federal law “On State Protection of Victims and Witnesses.” And in the law, everything is clearly and clearly written: the investigator makes a decision on the need to protect a particular person, and then specific measures are determined depending on the situation. This could include personal security, issuance of protective equipment, change of place of residence, replacement of documents, and even a change in appearance. In addition, the witness is guaranteed that his rights will not be infringed, and all data about him will become confidential. The protection of participants in criminal proceedings is carried out by Russian special services - the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB.
But everything just turned out to be only on paper. In practice, this wonderful law, as shown by the case of Mikhail (and it should hardly be considered exceptional), does not work at all. Moreover, it has reached the point of outright stupidity - the very agency whose employees are suspected of involving him in their criminal business must protect and guard the witness Mikhail.
“The FSB protects in cases where there is a threat to the security of the state. This means that, apparently, the Ministry of Internal Affairs should protect me,” reasoned the witness, intimidated and entangled in bureaucratic delays. - In the ministry, this responsibility is assigned to the departments for combating organized crime. But how does this work out - I testified against corrupt employees of the Organized Crime Control Department, and their colleagues must defend me. That is, the entire department will know about all the data considered confidential - my location, new name, and the like? Then eliminating me will be as easy as shelling pears. It turns out that the law only works if those who threaten the witness have nothing to do with the police at all.”
For some time, Mikhail continued to go to the prosecutor’s office to participate in various investigative actions, but then the threat became too real. “They still provided security, but one evening we were still almost killed at the safe house. I had to hide and run away,” admitted Mikhail. The witness decided to hide in Moscow - it seemed easier to get lost in the capital, and all federal law enforcement agencies are stationed here - if something happens, there will be somewhere to complain.
But this turned out to be far from easy. Or rather, you can complain, but the result will still be the same, that is, zero. The Prosecutor General's Office responded to the statement of the witness asking for protection in a purely formal manner - they sent him back to the prosecutor's office of the Arkhangelsk region. “They, in turn, turned to the Organized Crime Control Department, where they were explained that I myself was in hiding, hiding, and they just wanted to protect me. The prosecutors wrote to the top,” Mikhail complains. It didn’t work out with the Prosecutor General’s Office, so I went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs - the Department for Combating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DBOPiT). The main “anti-mafia” department just threw up its hands and was unable to offer any concrete help. “The policeman asked my wife and I why we decided that we needed to be provided with security in the capital, why we didn’t go, for example, to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky? - Mikhail described his conversation at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. “Then he finally agreed to help, but only if we proved to him that we were in danger!” From his words, it turned out that they would be able to help us only after the Arkhangelsk UBOP officers wrote a report about the impossibility of protecting the witness. But, firstly, I am hiding from them, and, secondly, such a letter, in which they admit their own powerlessness, will mean unsatisfactory work of the police. And if so, then a ministerial inspection will be required, as a result of which it will be necessary to disperse such detectives. Naturally, no one began to admit their powerlessness.”
Exactly a year has passed since June last year, when Mikhail went on the run. And what he should do now, or rather, how he could survive, remained unclear. Now his situation is really close to hopeless. “I asked the police to at least give me other documents. You understand that with my old passport I can’t officially rent an apartment, get a job, or get medical care - this can immediately become known to those who are looking for me,” says Mikhail. - And then I was advised to contact the Arkhangelsk passport office. And there they offered to help me with new documents if I sent them photographs of myself and my wife, and also named the new last name that I wanted to take. The Arkhangelsk police promised to do everything as soon as possible and deliver it to me by courier or train. It feels like they are just making fun of me. After all, it is clear that any employee of the local internal affairs bodies will be able to find out my new passport data.”
The Arkhangelsk Regional Prosecutor's Office confirmed to your correspondent that everything told by Mikhail is not fiction or the ravings of a madman, as it might seem at first glance. “Yes, indeed, a check was carried out on the facts stated by the witness, and they were confirmed. Several cases have been filed. Details, the number of detainees, their names cannot be disclosed in the interests of the ongoing investigation,” said our sources in the prosecutor’s office.