An investigation is underway against two police officers from the notorious department.

Kazan police department No. 9, which received scandalous fame under its former name “Dalniy,” is again involved in a story that may entail procedural consequences. As it became known, the investigative authorities are conducting an investigation against the head of the local police station, Azat Abdullin, and his subordinate, Elmir Namazov. According to human rights activists, the police, after shooting, mistakenly detained and beat a citizen, mistaking him for a suspect. The regional Ministry of Internal Affairs states that their colleagues acted lawfully.

The Kazan Human Rights Center (KHC) reported yesterday that the investigative department (ID) of the Investigative Committee for Tatarstan is conducting a pre-investigation check into the alleged abuse of power by police captains - the head of the precinct department for juvenile affairs of OP No. 9 Azat Abdullin and the precinct police officer Elmir Namazov. Senior assistant to the head of the Investigative Directorate Andrei Sheptytsky confirmed the information about the inspection to Kommersant, adding that “there are no results yet.” According to human rights activists, police this summer during operational activities beat 20-year-old Kazan resident Rafael Safin, allegedly mistaking him for a 55-year-old criminal wanted for murder.

As they say in the KPC, referring to the police version, law enforcement officers learned that the alleged killer could be hiding in the apartment of one of the houses on Kazan Pobeda Avenue. On August 16, captains Abdullin and Namazov went to the specified address for detention. To lure out the suspect, the police cut off the electricity supply to the apartment. Further, according to the version of human rights activists, Mr. Safin arrived because “the lights in the apartment” of his aunt were turned off. “The woman living on the first floor gave the guy (Mr. Safin - Kommersant) the key to the intercom through the window, and he entered the entrance,” the KPTs statement said. There, human rights activists say, they shouted to Mr. Safin: “Stop!”, and when he turned around, he saw “two men in civilian clothes pointing pistols at him.” When the guy ran out of the entrance, they chased him, and one of them shot twice. At their request, Mr. Safin stopped, raised his hands up, took out his mobile phone, car and apartment keys from his pockets and lay down on the ground. The police, human rights activists say, referring to Safin’s statements, without showing him his identification, began kicking him and handcuffed him. According to human rights activists, the police mistook the guy for a criminal “in the dim lighting” at the entrance, and realized their mistake when they detained him. Mr. Safin was taken to OP No. 9, where they took an explanation and released him. According to the CPC, they did not find any weapons or other prohibited items on him, but the doctors he contacted “recorded bruises of the face and chest, as well as abrasions of the right knee joint.” The CPC says that they have a video recording of the moment of Mr. Safin’s arrest.

Let us remind you that OP No. 9 was previously called “Dalniy” and became notorious after the death in 2012 of Sergei Nazarov, who was detained on suspicion of stealing a cell phone. In June of this year, eight former Dalniy employees received various sentences for torture (there were 14 victims in the case). Now the Supreme Court of Tatarstan is considering their complaints against the verdict. After the story with Mr. Nazarov, as stated in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the department’s employees underwent strict recertification. Those who survived it remained, and recertified employees from other departments were appointed to the vacant positions.

The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Tatarstan told Kommersant yesterday that an internal check showed that captains Abdullin and Namazov acted in accordance with the law. A source in the Ministry of Internal Affairs told Kommersant the department’s version. According to him, after the apartment was de-energized, the door was opened by a woman who, noticing the police, shouted: “Ambush!” After that, the same guy who was detained ran out of the apartment. “The officers had information that he might be armed. They told him: “Stop, police!”, but he tried to run away. The police fired warning shots in the air,” the source said. He did not rule out that the guy’s escape was a diversionary maneuver, thanks to which the criminal in the apartment managed to leave it and hide.

Andrey Smirnov

TFR returned to the former "Dalniy"