Human rights activists asked to check the forensic expert who found a wound between the fifth and sixth fingers of the policeman

The “Committee for the Prevention of Torture” complained to the Investigative Committee about the professionalism of forensic expert Valery Filatov, who conducted an examination in the case of an attack on a policeman in the Nizhny Novgorod region, according to the organization’s website.

The criminal case in which the examination was carried out is related to an incident that occurred at about eight in the evening on August 9, 2016. Then a resident of the village of Druzhny, Andrei Dvortsov, was standing on the street with his friends; before that they had been drinking. Three policemen approached them and began to ask about something, but Dvortsov got scared and ran.

One of the police officers caught up with him, threw him to the ground and handcuffed the man, after which the police beat Dvortsov until he lost consciousness.

As Andrey Dvortsov said, he works as a plumber and in his overalls he carries the knife he needs for his work. In his opinion, the “sudden rage” of the police was caused by the fact that one of them, grabbing his sleeve, cut his hand on this knife. The man spent the night at the police station.

The next day, a plumber recorded injuries at the emergency room: a concussion, numerous bruises and abrasions throughout the body. He spent eight days in the hospital and then received outpatient treatment.

Soon, a case was opened against Dvortsov for assault on a police officer (Article 318 of the Criminal Code). He himself wrote a statement to the Investigative Committee, accusing the police of beating him. The investigation has already refused to open a case four times; all refusals have been cancelled, and a new inspection is now being carried out.

As part of the criminal case against Dvortsov, a forensic medical examination was carried out by an expert from the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Bureau of Forensic Medicine, Valery Filatov.

“In his conclusion, he not only indicated that the police officer had an incised wound in the “fifth interdigital space” - a non-existent anatomical zone - but was also able to establish the severity of the harm to the police officer’s health without studying the relevant documentation,” said Committee lawyer Evgeniy Chilikov.

Human rights activists turned to the “Center for Forensic Expertise and Research” for a review of Filatov’s examination, which confirmed the presence of gross violations in his conclusion.

“The conclusions of expert Filatov, of course, play a key role in the investigation of the incident between the police and Andrei Dvortsov: there is no doubt that his conclusions could lead to serious consequences for Dvortsov,” Chilikov concluded.