Witnesses admitted that under torture they incriminated a Saratov boxer who received 14.5 years in a drug case

The second witness in a criminal case on drug sales (Article 228.1 of the Criminal Code) against a boxer from the city of Balashov, Saratov region, Maxim Burbin, stated that he slandered him due to beatings and psychological pressure. A video with the story of witness Andrei Podlesny was published by Vzglyad-info.

A prisoner in Saratov colony No. 10, Podlesny, complained that in the pre-trial detention center he was beaten by fellow inmates, and operatives threatened to plant “something” on his parents. Because of this, the man slandered Burbin, stating in court that he gave him drugs in the apartment and through bookmarks. Podlesny wrote a letter of refutation to the prosecutor and the chairman of the Public Monitoring Committee. He claims that Burbin “is not involved in drugs.”

Earlier, another witness in this case recanted his testimony against the boxer. Prisoner Maxim Poluyanov said that he gave false testimony against Burbin because of physical violence in the pre-trial detention center. According to Poluyanov, the defendants beat him, threw him to the ceiling and dropped him, and the investigator did not notice any signs of beatings.

Burbin himself also said that in the pre-trial detention center in Balashov he was beaten and forced to testify against Nikita Starover, another person involved in this case.

The young man considers the reason for his persecution to be a fight in a nightclub with drug control officer Oleg Gritsinin, who subsequently detained him. In September 2018, Burbin was sentenced to 14.5 years in a maximum security colony.

According to Vzglyad-info, the prosecutor's office decided to conduct the first inspection after the publication of a journalistic investigation about the boxer's case, but no violations were found in the case.