Case of fire at drug rehabilitation center investigated

In the Altai Territory, the investigation into the case of a major fire in the spring of 2014 at the Clean Sheet drug rehabilitation center, in which nine people died, has been completed. Investigators charged a patient at the center who was installing electrical wiring with causing death by negligence. The center's management is charged with an article of the Criminal Code regarding the provision of services that do not meet safety requirements and result in human casualties.

The Department of the Investigative Committee for the Altai Territory sent to court the case of a fire in the rehabilitation center for drug addicts “Clean Sheet”. This was reported by senior assistant to the head of the department Lyudmila Ryazantseva.

A fire in the “Clean Sheet” center for drug addicts, located in the outback of the Altai Territory, occurred early in the morning of April 27, 2014 and claimed the lives of nine patients, six suffered burns (in total there were 27 people there). As the investigation established, the fire occurred due to faulty electrical wiring, which was installed by one of the patients, Ali Isaev, who did not have special skills and knowledge. Investigators charged him with causing death by negligence of two or more persons (Part 3 of Article 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

In addition, a case was opened against the director of the rehabilitation center, Maxim Kozhatov, and the president of the charitable foundation of the same name, Zhirair Zurnajyan. They were charged with an article of the Criminal Code on the provision of services that did not meet safety requirements and resulted in human casualties (Part 3 of Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). As indicated in the investigation materials, the accused entered into agreements with relatives of drug addicts to conduct a course of anonymous social rehabilitation according to the 12 Steps program. Subsequently, drug addicts were placed in a so-called hospital, located in the village of Ozero-Krasilovo (Kosikhinsky district).

As Ms. Ryazantseva told Kommersant, in the house where those in need of rehabilitation were housed, there was only one evacuation exit. “In the event of a fire, there was no means of warning—a fire alarm—and a means of extinguishing—fire extinguishers,” the investigation materials say. At night, the front door was locked with an internal lock, the key to which was kept in a single copy by the old resident of the center, the handles on the windows of the center were deliberately removed. In addition, as indicated in the case, Ali Isaev allegedly laid the electrical wiring with the consent of the director of the center and the president of the foundation. Messrs. Kozhatov and Zurnadzhyan did not admit guilt.

Of the three accused, the court arrested only the director of the center, 28-year-old Maxim Kozhatov. However, his prison sentence was subsequently replaced by house arrest. Ali Isaev and Zhirayr Zurnajyan were under recognizance not to leave. The Altai Regional Prosecutor's Office served the defendants with an indictment, after which the case was submitted to the Kosikhinsky District Court of the Altai Territory. It became known that relatives of the deceased patients intend to file claims against the accused for compensation for moral damage.

Konstantin Voronov, Novosibirsk

Electrical wiring shorted out in court