Alexander Bastrykin sent a special commission to Khanty-Mansiysk

Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin sent a central office commission to the investigative department for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug to find out the reasons for the “blatant fact of ignoring the appeal of a girl who came to the investigator for protection.” Earlier, local resident Yulia Pykhteeva was killed in Khanty-Mansiysk, who contacted the ICR department with a statement of rape committed by her alleged killer Marif Mamedov. Several investigators involved in the incident have already been fired.

Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin
Photo: Dmitry Azarov, Kommersant / buy photo

As official representative of the Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR) Vladimir Markin told Kommersant, on the direct orders of the head of the department, Alexander Bastrykin, a commission from the central apparatus of the Investigative Committee was sent to Khanty-Mansiysk. The reason was the high-profile murder of 23-year-old local resident Yulia Pykhteeva - the tragedy could have been avoided if local investigators had intervened.

Yulia Pykhteeva was killed on the evening of May 14. A video recording appeared on the Internet, which shows how a certain man strikes her on the street of Khanty-Mansiysk. She died soon after. On the same evening, a suspect in the murder of Marif Mamedov was detained and charged under the relevant article. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, he was arrested. Meanwhile, it turned out that Ms. Pykhteeva contacted the investigative authorities with a complaint against him for rape, but she was refused to initiate a criminal case.

“The commission of the central apparatus will look into the reasons for the blatant fact of ignoring the appeal of the girl who came to the investigator for protection. This approach is absolutely contrary to the position of the chairman of the Investigative Committee, who himself considers it necessary to carefully consider and promptly respond to every appeal and demands a similar attitude to official duty from his subordinates,” noted Vladimir Markin. He added that the commission will also check whether the investigator's decision was only a manifestation of negligence or whether he and his management had other motives. “Based on the results of the commission’s work, a strict legal assessment will be given to the actions of all employees of the regional investigative department and management staff, including to ensure that such facts do not recur in the future,” the ICR said in a letter.

Based on the results of an internal audit, the head of the investigative department of the Investigative Committee for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Arkady Syngaevsky, signed documents on the dismissal of the investigator of the Khanty-Mansiysk Interdistrict Investigation Department, Sharif Aripov, who refused to initiate a criminal case on the fact of rape. In addition, he is being checked for signs of “negligence” in his actions (Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). His immediate superior was also fired. O. head of the investigation department, the issue of bringing disciplinary action against the head of the Khanty-Mansiysk Interdistrict Investigation Department (he is currently on vacation) is being decided.

The investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug clarified that investigator Sharif Aripov refused the applicant, as he concluded that it was impossible to confirm her information. “The investigator’s decision was recognized as unfounded; based on the results of an additional inspection, on May 20, a criminal case was opened under paragraph “b” of Part 2 of Art. 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Rape under threat of murder”), in conjunction with Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Murder”), the accused faces up to 20 years in prison,” the Investigative Committee reported yesterday. According to investigators, from the moment of his birth the accused lived in Kogalym and studied at a local high school until the ninth grade, but he does not have a Russian passport - his mother, a native of Azerbaijan, was denied Russian citizenship. In addition, Marif Mamedov was previously involved in three criminal cases investigated by the police.

The leader of the Azerbaijani diaspora in the Ural Federal District, Shahin Shykhlinski, noted that the killer of Yulia Pykhteeva must be punished to the fullest extent of the law. “For many years we have been trying to maintain the image of Azerbaijan in the Urals, but such people disgrace us and let us down. However, I would like to emphasize that I do not consider the crime from the point of view of nationality,” he added.

Alena Tronina, Ekaterinburg

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