Translated material
"I was indifferent"
In court in the case of the BORN gang, the last defendant Yuri Tikhomirov was interrogated
In court in the case of the BORN gang, the last defendant Yuri Tikhomirov was interrogated
On Monday, the Moscow Regional Court resumed hearings on the case of BORN, the Fighting Organization of Russian Nationalists. There are four defendants in the dock - Maxim Baklagin, Vyacheslav Isaev, Mikhail Volkov and Yuri Tikhomirov. They are charged with seven episodes of hate-motivated murders, two attempted murders, banditry, participation in an extremist community and illegal arms trafficking. Three have already been interrogated. Baklagin and Isaev fully admitted their guilt. Volkov does not deny participation in the murders, but claims that he was not a member of a gang and committed murders based on personal revenge. The last defendant, Yuri Tikhomirov, was interrogated on Monday.
It can be said that they were waiting for his testimony - during the preliminary investigation, Tikhomirov used Article 51 and did not say anything. He completely denies his guilt, despite the fact that in June 2012 he was convicted of attacking anti-fascist Ilya Dzhaparidze and sentenced to 10 years in a strict regime. (The case of the murder of the anti-fascist was investigated before all the murders were combined into one case BORN, Baklagin and Isaev were interrogated as witnesses and released, and then went on the run - including after Tikhomirov's arrest and confession).
In the BORN case, Tikhomirov is charged only with participation in a gang, extremism and illegal arms trafficking. The murder of Dzhaparidze, in which Tikhomirov participated and about which Baklagin and Isaev spoke in detail, is not among the charges - he has already been convicted, and according to the law, one cannot be tried twice for the same crime. Likewise, the court cannot "weight" Tikhomirov's article - only lighten it.
In court, Tikhomirov declared his desire to testify, but took his usual position - he denied everything. His mother came to this meeting for the first time. She wept softly as he spoke.
“Of the defendants, I know only Baklagin and Isaev, I have known them since I was 15,” Tikhomirov began the story. - In their youth, Baklagin and Isaev were football fans, people in this environment are characterized by national-patriotic views. I knew that they had such views.
- Do you share these views? asked the representative of the victims, Ilnur Sharapov.
— No, I was indifferent.
And continued:
- Since 2007, adult life has already begun, we worked, had serious relationships with girls, talked more in pairs, spent leisure time together, went swimming, celebrated holidays. That's how life went on."
According to Tikhomirov, in October 2010 Baklagin called and asked to meet. At the meeting, he said that in the morning he was detained and interrogated for a long time. This was connected with the murder of Judge Chuvashov. Baklagin said that he was forced to help the investigation and threatened with consequences.
- So, let's get down to the merits of the charges brought against you, - Judge Kozlov interrupted the lyrics.
“In fact, I don’t plead guilty, I don’t belong to a gang, I don’t know anything about weapons, I didn’t participate in the attack on Japaridze. I consider the testimony of Baklagin and Isaev to be a slander.
- What are their reasons for slander? the prosecutor asked.
“They face life in prison, and the operatives promised leniency if they did everything they were asked to do.
- A life sentence does not threaten you?
- I hope no. But given the lawlessness of law enforcement agencies, anything is possible. I was tortured with electric shock!
“Yes, all the defendants say so,” Judge Kozlov interrupted the defendant. “And it's especially important to say this in front of a jury.
Tikhomirov only once answered in the affirmative to all other questions - yes, he was familiar with Korshunov, went in for sports a couple of times. The rest of the questions are answered in the negative. I didn’t know Tikhonov and Goryachev (the leaders of BORN), I wasn’t a nationalist, I didn’t see weapons (except for my authorized traumatic “Wasp”, from which Ilya Dzhaparidze shot four times in the head), I didn’t see any means of conspiracy, no one gave him instructions, to attack, again, has nothing to do with it.
The prosecutor's office asked to read out the testimony given by Tikhomirov as a suspect during the preliminary investigation. Tikhomirov and his defense opposed, demanding that the protocol be recognized as inadmissible evidence, and that the confession was a self-incrimination committed under pressure from the investigator. However, the judge did not see any violations of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the protocol was read out.
Tikhomirov's interrogation took place on December 12, 2010. It was then that Tikhomirov first told the investigation the details of the murder of Dzhaparidze, which Baklagin and Isaev would confirm much later - they would be detained only in the summer of 2012 and both would confess to everything. “On June 27, 2009, we went to the house of Ilya Dzhaparidze with the intention of killing him, as he beat the sister of the nationalist Skachevsky with a child (information about the beating was not confirmed, there was no attack). I was supposed to shoot him, and finish off Baklagin with a knife. For the purpose of conspiracy, I put on a wig and panama, Maxim Baklagin put on a cap. Then we threw them in the trash can. After an hour of our waiting, Japaridze left the entrance. We went around the house and went to meet him. I shot him four times in the head. But he didn't fall. Baklagin came up and began to beat him with a knife. I remember that Dzhaparidze shouted: For what?! Then he fell. We ran into the subway. After some time, we met with Baklagin and Isaev, I told them that I no longer want to participate in such cases, they didn’t call me anymore.
In the end, Tikhomirov once again announced that he was retracting these testimonies, since he had been tortured with electric current.
“We understand, we understand,” the judge interrupted him again. - Have a seat.
Then the jury watched a video of the verification at the place of Maxim Baklagin's testimony, where he once again told in detail and showed how Ilya Dzhaparidze, Muslim Abdullayev, Sos Khachikyan were killed. At the next meeting, on January 21, the defense will finish presenting evidence and interrogate the last witnesses. Then - additions and debates of the parties.