Translated material
About interrogations and searches
Hysteria in the media and bloggers over the interrogations of Ksenia Sobchak, Navalny, Nemtsov, Yashin. It is a great surprise that interrogations last for five hours or more.
No, this length of interrogation is quite common. Duration does not mean that the interrogation is particularly important, nor is it particularly strict or cruel. The fact that the above-mentioned men and women emerge from interrogations pale, taciturn, tortured and frightened is explained by the fact that they are unaccustomed to communicating with investigators and do not understand the procedure. The tedious duration is explained not by the desire to torture, but by the interrogation technology itself.
There are several people present in the investigator’s small office:
1. Interrogated
2. Lawyer of the person being interrogated
3. Investigator, or even two investigators or three
4. A representative of the prosecutor’s office may also be present.
The interrogation is recorded in a protocol, which the investigator types into the computer, often with just two fingers. A lot of time is spent on developing written statements and questions and answers, since there are several people present. The lawyer clarifies, the interrogated does not understand, the investigator clarifies the question, the lawyer advises the client on the wording or stops the interrogated when he tries to say too much... The lawyer discusses and argues with the investigator... In short, a lot of time is wasted.
Investigators have their own tricks. The most harmless questions (born, baptized, etc.) can lead to answers that are fraught with danger for the person being interrogated. There is, for example, technology. With distance (days, weeks) the same list of questions is asked, the most simple and idiotic. The answers are placed on the table, the investigator compares the answers and if he finds contradictions, he pays attention to them. He starts digging right there. The investigators may seem like stupid, narrow-minded people, but they were taught the methods of their work, but the interrogated person was not taught.
Now, do investigators have the right to interrogate such famous people specifically in the case of the riots on Bolotnaya? They have the right on the basis of a criminal case initiated on the basis of the riots on Bolotnaya on May 6, as a result of which there were victims. 12 non-famous people have already been put behind bars, so the famous are given a break. General Markin reported that the total number of people interrogated regarding the riots on Bolotnaya on May 6 exceeded a thousand people. We know nothing about interrogations of ordinary people; they only talk about interrogations of celebrities.
Now about the searches. During the events of May 6, Udaltsov, Navalny, Yashin and Nemtsov said certain
phrases and certain actions were committed, which, the investigation will try to prove, are criminally punishable. Investigators can, in a case of mass riots, Article 212, a serious article, go to court to obtain permission to conduct searches. We applied and received permission. Sobchak was not on Bolotnaya, but had the imprudence to accommodate Ilya Yashin and thus her apartment was listed by the police as Yashin’s “actual place of residence.” Therefore, the search at Sobchak’s place also complies with the accepted norms of Russian laws.
That is, so far the investigators have not committed anything illegal against everyone I’m talking about. The fact that, if Sobchak is to be believed, she was allegedly humiliated during the search, apparently should be attributed to the social distance separating the golden youth from ordinary investigators and police officers, who, as representatives of the people, are, to Sobchak’s taste, rude. In the social gathering where she socializes, men are usually feminine.
Because of the, frankly speaking, fabulous money found in Sobchak’s apartment in connection with the Yashin case, she herself became a defendant in the case of the May 6 riots. So she still has to go through some unpleasant hours with the police. Here lawyer Henry Resnik will not help her. No, they won’t jail her, but they will try to teach her a lesson. I think without going beyond the law.
Yashin may suffer the most. He is less famous than others; there will be no popular unrest about him. Nemtsov rendered a huge service to the authorities on December 10th. They question him in public along with everyone else, but I don’t think they will punish him. They will try to teach Navalny, the darling of the bourgeoisie, a lesson. I think it will come down to a recognizance not to leave. If convicted, it will be suspended.
Sergei Udaltsov has some special relationship with the authorities, the essence of which I still do not understand. For example, he might not have been allowed to participate in the action on June 12, the reason was great, Udaltsov twice escaped from the criminal trial in Ulyanovsk, but the authorities swallowed Udaltsov’s antics. Why?
For now, the brunt of the System’s revenge for the events of May 6 is borne by ordinary participants in these events. Among them is our Sasha Kamensky.
This was a Saturday sermon about the interrogations and searches of June 16th.