Evkurov and ritual

Ingush judges quarreled among themselves, and justice migrated to the presidential office

There are interesting movements in Ingushetia. Ibragim Fargiev, the new chairman of the Supreme Court of the republic, arrived in the republic. A military lawyer, scientist, teacher - they say he was one of those whom Moscow considered as a candidate for ...

There are interesting movements in Ingushetia. Ibragim Fargiev, the new chairman of the Supreme Court of the republic, arrived in the republic. A military lawyer, scientist, teacher, he is said to have been one of those whom Moscow considered as a candidate for the presidency of Ingushetia at the time when Zyazikov was rocking. The included public watches how Fargiev and Yevkurov look at each other. Soon the judiciary will have to face off against the executive power. Mikhail Zadvornov, the former chairman of the Ingushetian Armed Forces, lost this battle.

Mikhail Zadvornov left Ingushetia last summer. Formally, he went for a promotion (he won a competition to fill the vacancy of a judge of the Supreme Court). In fact, he laid down his arms in front of the President of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.

This departure was preceded by a long conflict between the president and the supreme judge. The result of this struggle was curious. It not only split the entire judicial community into two camps, it also brought out the confrontation in the republic of two different mechanisms of legality - secular and traditional, the conflict of written law and adats. Themis plays in Ingushetia according to very specific rules, which Zadvornov has not been able to figure out.

After his departure, Yevkurov's press secretary publicly expressed the hope that Moscow would select someone from the locals for the post of chairman. What happened.

The judiciary in Ingushetia is a very small, closed community. There are only about 70 judges in the republic, including 8 judges of the Arbitration Court and three judges of the Constitutional Court. However, it is to this small, closed community that life has given a powerful tool in the hands of the ability to dispense justice in one of the most explosive regions of Russia. And it was within this community that a split occurred. I will make a reservation that, although we will talk about Ingushetia, this story, in general, is about the entire Russian justice system.

Split

In April 2009, a curious document was published. It said:

“Unfortunately, the judiciary of the republic creates the most problems in cooperation with the leadership of the republic in the fight against crime. Showing off their independence from the republican executive authorities, judges of the Supreme, district and world courts often justify obvious criminals and, worst of all, militants, protect corrupt officials and bribe-takers, and return legally dismissed people to work ... "

What follows is a list of nine names - these are people who, in the opinion of the author of the letter, should be deprived of the opportunity to administer justice.

This is an excerpt from an official letter from the President of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, to the Kremlin curator of the Caucasus, Vladislav Surkov.

The letter to Surkov, of course, was not presented publicly. But Yunus-Bek has openly expressed his position regarding an indefinite circle of judges before. For example, like this: "A judge who releases bribe-takers is worse than ten Khattabs."

One of the judges of the Supreme Court of Ingushetia told me:

- Once, having gathered the wives of the murdered police officers, Yevkurov said: "You became widows because of the judges." That is, we are involved ... It got to the point that there was almost an open call for reprisals against judges!

The judges wrote to Russian President Medvedev and Chairman of the Russian Supreme Court Lebedev: "This whole campaign to discredit the judiciary is being carried out in order to replace judges who are objectionable to the president, in particular, Mikhail Zadvornov."

Yevkurov also wrote to Lebedev, saying, come and deal with your people.

In December 2009, at the next monthly meeting of judges, dedicated, by the way, to the practice of considering cases for the protection of honor and dignity, the judge of the Supreme Court of Ingushetia Albakov (he is also a member of the Council of Judges of Russia) spoke in the spirit that how much more sharp attacks from side of the head of the republic. The other judges also spoke out loud: “Until when? One general left, another general left, the third general ... We have a governor-general here! But those at least a little kept up appearances, but here they wipe their feet on us!

We decided to return to this issue after the New Year, to convene an expanded composition of the Council of Judges and discuss Yevkurov's behavior. This was supposed to happen on January 18, 2010.

The meeting was to be held, as usual, in the premises of the Supreme Court of the Republic. On the appointed day, the judges had already gathered when Tamerlan Evloev, at that time the unconditional chairman of the Council of Judges, called and said: “Guys, let's all go to the presidential palace, we will discuss our issue here.”

The Presidential Palace is located in close proximity to the Supreme Court - literally in the next building. In the capital Magas, where only 524 inhabitants live, all the power structures of Ingushetia are concentrated on one patch. And all the local "leading" buildings, built of material resembling languid Armenian tuff, are outwardly equally representative.

But usually they say about those who go to the presidential palace: "They called me to the hill."

Representatives of the judicial community were terribly offended by this invitation. Boiled even Zadvornov, whose temperament is far from being Caucasian. In a word, it turned out that the majority of judges of general jurisdiction did not go to the president, but the Arbitration and Constitutional Courts were present at the meeting.

I do not know if the invitation contained the message that the offended judges read in it. I spoke with a representative of that wing of the judiciary who nevertheless attended the meeting in Yevkurov's office - this person asked not to publish his name, referring to the internal affairs of the judiciary. And he told me that there was no second bottom in Evloev's proposal: in the presidential palace there was simply a room more spacious.

But judges from among those who ignored the invitation have a different opinion about Evloev's act:

- He was going to evaluate the president's statements in his office. Yes, Yevkurov practically chaired that meeting!

Very significant consequences grew out of this quarrel. Immediately several people from the Council of Judges, who considered themselves offended, wrote a statement about their own withdrawal from this body. According to a part of the judicial community, this meant the self-dissolution of the Council of Judges: in fact, only one person remained from its original composition, except for the chairman Evloev. The functions of the Council of Judges were temporarily taken over by a meeting of judges who remained in the building of the Supreme Court. And it was decided to convene an extraordinary conference in order to re-elect the Council of Judges. Although the chairman of the former Council of Judges, Evloev, considered the decision to dissolve it arbitrariness: he did not leave its composition, but, it turns out, he lost his powers.

The new Council was nevertheless elected at the end of January - with the exception of two members. One place each was left to the judges of the Arbitration and Constitutional Courts - they ignored this extraordinary conference, considering it illegal (which the Constitutional Court even made a decision about).

Magomed Daurbekov was elected Chairman of the new Council of Judges.

It must be said that the situation in which the Ingush judiciary found itself is actually a dead end. On the one hand, indeed, the Law "On Bodies of the Judicial Community in the Russian Federation" determines that only the former Council can convene a conference at which a new Council of Judges will be elected - and not a meeting. On the other hand, the Council of Judges will not be able to make any decisions if its authorized members are not enough to collect a quorum.

News of the split within the judiciary of Ingushetia reached Moscow. The Presidium of the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation gathered on the Ingush issue. The quarreling judges were recommended to convene the conference again in order to resolve everything amicably. Nothing happened: each of the judging groups convened its own conference, and each of these conferences was mutually recognized by the opponents as illegal.

In fact, there are now two Councils of Judges operating in the republic in parallel - one chaired by Evloev, the second - led by Daurbekov. And although the Council of Judges of the Russian Federation recognized as legal the newly created Council with Daurbekov at the head, on the side of another Council, Yevloevsky, - the sympathy of the head of the republic Yevkurov: he calls Evloev’s opponents a “backup body”. And the recommendation that came from such lips is a very heavy weight on the scales of Themis, even if it concerns purely internal corporate affairs of the judiciary.

The Qualification Board of Judges (QCJ) faced similar problems. Five judges resigned, and in the summer of 2010 some of the judges elected a new QCJ (led by Tagir Ozdoev). And the other part of the judges at a separate conference built on what was left after the previous KKS lost its quorum. This body is headed by Kureish Kokurkhoev.

Both KKS work safely, have identical letterheads and seals, sometimes they even manage to terminate the judicial powers of one of the opponents. Those, of course, will appeal against the decision of the enemy KKS through a disciplinary presence in Moscow - and this will be so indefinitely.

Representatives of both halves of the judiciary refer to laws as arguments in support of their position. And every time there is some kind of gap in the law, which supposedly should be filled with dialogue. But the dialogue fails. The stakes seem to be too high.

Rates

Control over the Council of Judges and the QCJ is by no means a tool for realizing ambitions, but quite an applied task.

The Council of Judges - an elected body of judicial self-government - determines all current policy in the life of the community. The QCJ, which consists of one third of the representatives of the public, and also includes a plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation, decides which of the judges to recommend for vacant positions. And if the issue of appointing a judge is ultimately within the competence of the President of Russia, then in the issue of removing him, the QCJ plays a significant role. That is, the one who controls the KKS - and sculpts the entire judicial system in the region, providing the necessary removals and appointments. The Council of Judges does not give such scope for work, but this element must also be kept in hand in order to ensure the entire technical side of the smooth operation of the QCJ.

It is clear that representatives of both judicial camps stand on the fact that it is not the seats themselves in the Council of Judges and the QCJ that have become a bone of contention, but vice versa: at the center of the scandal is the violated law and justice in their distribution.

And I really want to believe that of all the subjects of the Russian Federation, it is Ingushetia that turned out to be the place where representatives of the authorities (judges) fight in the name of these unfashionable concepts covered with a noble patina. However, I cannot get rid of the idea that Ingushetia, against the background of the struggle within the judiciary, is actually a black hole where budget billions disappear; that it is in this republic that every third inhabitant is exposed to real or imaginary involvement in gangs. And it is here, in Ingushetia, that none of the judges can boast of verdicts in "high-profile" cases. The terrorist “case 12”, fraught with scandals (on the attack on Ingushetia in 2004), was sent to Stavropol for consideration.

And if you look at the merits, then in the fierce struggle for the right to control the KKS and the Council of Judges, the main argument of the opposing camps is not even a violation of the ritual in the distribution of seats. Both sides have something to pinch each other for - and these claims are much more painful than talk about a quorum and the illegitimacy of extraordinary conferences.

What to pinch for

The Council of Judges, headed by Evloev, somehow found out that two judges from the opposite camp - Tambiev (Magassky court) and Yaryzhev (Nazranovsky court) - diplomas, let's say, are in doubt. Wishing to become judges, these people received diplomas of the second higher legal education at the North Caucasian State Technical University. (Attention, a question: if an ordinary police position in the republic, according to the stories of the policemen themselves, costs about 150 thousand rubles, how many people want to become judges?)

Yaryzhev and Tambiev studied together, according to an accelerated program - on the basis of diplomas from the Chechen-Ingush State University, obtained in 1993 (specialty - economics). Soon after receiving the necessary legal education, Tambiev and Yaryzhev ended up in the judiciary.

And now the Council of Judges, led by Evloev, through the university in Grozny, has established that he did not issue any diplomas to Tambiev and Yaryzhev; Goznak said that diplomas with the indicated numbers were sent to Ukraine in the late 80s. The Sumy State Pedagogical University and the Ukrainian State Academy of Railway Transport even named the names of the people who received these education documents.

The Council of Judges - the one headed by Daurbekov - does not recognize the accusations against "their own" Tambiev and Yaryzhev, saying: "Show the documents." But Evloev probably shows the documents at a meeting of his own Council of Judges, where Daurbekov, of course, does not go, and therefore does not take into account the accusations against his colleagues - for lack of evidence.

In response, Daurbekov's Council of Judges reproaches the opposite camp for anti-federal views. In particular, the current chairman of the Constitutional Court of the republic, Ayup Gagiev (and this is a major figure in Yevloev’s camp), is remembered not only for what he said during his recent tenure as deputy prime minister: “I don’t believe a single word that the leaders of our state say.” He is also charged with the law on polygamy, adopted under Aushev, hastily repealed, but "70 marriages were officially registered!"

Now let's look, for example, at statistics on cases considered in recent years by the same judge Evloev. Here are just a few interesting cases from his practice.

In 2004 Uzhakhova E.A. received five years in prison for the sale of heroin on a large scale. The judges of the Supreme Court (read: from the enemy camp) decided to consider the sentence conditional.

In the summer of 2007 Algatov Ya.B. received three years in prison for the fact that, together with his friends, using a dummy weapon, he took away his car from a taxi driver. The Judicial Collegium of the Supreme Court of Ingushetia decided to consider the punishment conditional.

In April 2010 Estamirov R.M. sentenced by Judge Evloev to a year in prison for the illegal acquisition and possession of weapons: three machine guns, one machine gun, two grenades, an IZH pistol, a silencer and cartridges. The Supreme Court overturned this sentence as well - at a new consideration, Estamirov was given a suspended sentence.

These are three examples, but in general there are about a couple of dozen cases of such cancellations. And Evloev's current political opponents sat in all the "acquittal" boards. As a rule, Judge Yevloev's "senior comrades" had no doubts about the fact of the crime. Often the Supreme Court did not acquit the criminals, but simply changed the previously awarded sentence to a suspended sentence. I don't know whether Judge Evloev was suspiciously cruel to robbers and drug dealers, or whether his opponents had reason to treat them with indulgence.

Reasons for indulgence

At the dawn of his own presidency, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov often declared that he was ready to negotiate with corrupt officials, in the sense that if the stolen money was returned, then there would be no special sanctions against them. On this occasion, I will quote a story told to me by one of the judges, word for word.

“The head of the Sunzha housing and communal services is a very interesting case. The president invited her to his place and says: if you return the money, we will let you go. And she went for it. The money that they had left there, 15 million - she brought. Nevertheless, a case was opened against her, i.e. there was a deception. She is a married woman with three or four children. She returns - and the case is initiated! Initially, in respect of her measure, a written undertaking not to leave is chosen, which meets the requirements of the law. And immediately a command comes - from him (_from the president. - O. B. ) - to the Supreme Court: why was this woman not arrested? The prosecutor's office, under pressure, does this - although she herself previously agreed to a written undertaking not to leave. Ours, the Supreme Court, take it under the hood, send the case for a new trial, so that a different measure of restraint is chosen for her. She understood: you have already paid the money - so now they will also arrest you. And immediately fell into the hospital, and then disappeared._

And things went further. Her chief accountant, who put the signatures, Torshkhoev - he ended up in the dock. Old age, patient. So, Judge Chaniev's case. And to this judge Uveys1 sends a man whom the judge knows. And through him he gives instructions: to this Torshkhoev - conditionally or a fine. But don't plant. This, he says, is an order from the president. The judge awards a suspended sentence. And then, on the second day, the president starts trumpeting in all instances that Judge Chaniev has released the corrupt official. Because of this verdict, he, the president, succeeded in rejecting Chaniev's candidacy for reappointment - the judge flew out. When we had a meeting, Khloponin came here. And there it all sounded again. One of the judges gets up and says: here sits Judge Chaniev, who pronounced this sentence. So ask him why this verdict took place. Yevkurov, it seemed to me, was ready to run away from there.

I was also told this story about one of the judges of the Supreme Court ³ . He once tried one murderer - moreover, he did not judge alone, but with a jury. And the jury acquitted the killer. The judge himself, they say, just had no doubt that the defendant was guilty - but the investigation worked clumsily, and as a result: the jury delivered a verdict of not guilty.

And literally the next day the head of the republic summoned the judge. He entered the office - and there, at the deliberation table, all 12 jurors were sitting in a row, answering the question posed: how could this happen, that an acquittal was obtained?

The case had an interesting continuation: the killer was soon shot by unknown people. That is, the law justified the criminal, but adat did not.

The murderer's acquittal is not an isolated case when there was pressure on the judges. I saw the decisions of the Ingush judges, on which it was written with a hurried hand on top: “Invite a judge such and such and give an order to cancel.” And - a signature resembling the signature of the head of the republic.

Of course, observing the observance of the rule of law in our country, it is difficult to harbor any illusions on this score. For example, they say that it was far from the Lord God who led the hand of Judge Danilkin when he wrote his historical verdict.

But one thing is legality, and another thing is ritual.

The ritual that imitates the work of democratic institutions must be observed under any circumstances, if we have undertaken to play this democracy. Therefore, Danilkin's sentence had to be written - even if it was from right to left or with emoticons at the end of the line.

The misfortune of the Ingush justice system and the misfortune of Yunus-Bek himself is that in addition to the rituals honored by the Russian Federation, local rituals must also be honored here.

Recently there was such a case. At the next spontaneous rally, the police, among others, caught and beat the Republican opposition leader Khazbiev, along with his brothers. Of course, there was a trial (directly in the police building), and Khazbiev and his brothers were sentenced to 10 days of arrest.

In the meantime, influential people around the world managed to speak out in defense of the oppositionist: the detention and trial took place with blatant violations of the law. And in the evening of the first day of his imprisonment, the head of the republic, Yevkurov, called the older Khazbievs to discuss the behavior of the younger ones. We sat and talked, Yunus-Bek apparently agreed that the police were wrong, and gave instructions: the prisoners should be released immediately. Just like that - without all this fuss with cassations-appeals. And to tell the truth, even if there is a decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on this matter: according to adat, the word given to the elders is the highest law.

1Uveis Yevkurov, the younger brother of the head of the republic, occupies an interesting position in the system of authorities in Ingushetia - he is a universal negotiator. Uweis is called a “cashier” behind his back. 2 There is a note in the editorial office. 3 There is a note in the editorial office.