"Inner voice spoke to run"

For many years, Asya lived with a tyrant, until one day she decided to run with her children. From this, her struggle for the right to live without fear has just begun

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The air is filled with the smell of herbs and apples. We meet with Asya at the entrance to the building of the world judicial site in the suburbs. Nearby stands a bright blue car of her former Civil husband Artak. Today is another meeting in his criminal case: he was charged with a threat of murder.

This process is the last hope of Asi for protection. Three years ago, she left her husband with two minor children. He regularly beat her, but after leaving her life turned into a series of endless appeals to the police, surveys, examinations, courts and constant fear for his life. Artak pursued Asya, attacked her, threatened to kill, rammed a taxi in which she was traveling, beaten people who stood up for her on the street. More than thirty times, the woman turned to the police for help, and only the murder case reached the consideration in court.

"Probably you bring it yourself"

Asya met Artak when she was 17 years old. “We met for two years while I went to school. He was four years older and immediately began to behave as the owner. Once we went out for a walk, I just looked aside, he would hit me in the face: “Are you your lover, what did you look at him?!” He told me all the time that I would take him that I was to blame. I didn’t go to school anymore, he did not allow. He controlled the entire 10th and 11th grade, ”she recalls.

Young Asya thought it was love, and constantly felt guilty. Even at that moment, when Artak in the next impulse of anger took her elegant dress so that she could not come to the solemn presentation of the certificate. In addition, there were relatives on the side of Artak: they hoped that the young would soon get married, and convinced that after the wedding everything would change.

Asya photo: Elena Anosova for TD

When Asya became pregnant for the first time, the beatings and aggression intensified: “He beat me pregnant, called my mother, said that my mother took me. An ambulance arrived, as my nose and neck were broken. I was all blue from beatings. He beat mainly on the head. I was taken to the hospital, a concussion was diagnosed. But my relatives pressed me very much, and I said that I just fell, ”the woman says.

After that, pregnant Asya left her husband. But his parents persuaded her to "give another chance" and "to establish relationships." The mother -in -law even began to live with them, but Asya did not see any protection from her: Artak continued to beat her in the presence of her mother. “I ask her why she doesn’t stand up for me, and she says:“ This is probably you bring it yourself. ” My inner voice has already told me: “Run!” But I did not have enough strength, and there was no support for loved ones. "

Asi's native mother was forbidden to appear in their apartment and see her grandchildren, because she was divorced and "poorly influenced her daughter." It was to her that Asya ran away from an aggressive husband when she understood in which atmosphere her son was growing. But Artak constantly came for her and returned back.

Soon she became pregnant a second time. A daughter was born. And in a fit of another quarrel, he again beat Asya, this time with his feet. “I fell, and he put my foot on my face and says:“ I will kill you now, ”Asya recalls.

"Who are you, look at yourself"

It was always unimportant with money at home. Having sold everything that was possible, the couple moved to Moscow. Asya found a work in the field of trade and went to study in order to go to increase. But again I met resistance.

“I had to go to study, and Artak called me all the time, shouted:“ Who are you, look at yourself, but you are generally a rag! Why do you need it, sit where you are sitting, ”recalls Asya.

At some point, she saw that the children were in danger. “Once Artak threw a mug at me, and fell into my daughter's leg. She cried, and he did not pay any attention. The son grew up and began to intercede for me, all this led to scandals, ”recalls Asya.

Asya with her son and daughter photo: Elena Anosova for TD

Once again, when he waved his wife, his son intercede: "Do not hit her!" Then the man hit the child with all his strength in the face.

In February 2018, the son damaged his finger during a fighting training, Asya decided to find out the details from the coach, and this caused her husband a new attack of jealousy. “As I returned, he hit me immediately from the threshold. He did not even ask that the child with his finger, beat me very much. The son wanted to protect me, but he pushed him. I took a bag, a jacket and boots, did not even put them on, and ran with them in my hands from the fifth floor. I went to the store on the ground floor and called my friend. She took me and covered me. But I understood that I needed to pick up the children, since I would not stand it anymore, ”she says

After Asya left her husband, she changed several places of residence. But he watched her, wanted, started on her page on social networks, even came to her in St. Petersburg, where she wanted to get lost with her children. “We moved from the apartment to the apartment, I also changed work several times. He followed me. In the morning I leave early, and he is already waiting for me at the entrance. Or on the platform to sit next to the train. He constantly tried to say that I was to blame, but he wants to forgive me, ”the woman says.

Once he attacked Asya on the street when she returned home from her friend with her daughter: “He and his friend guarded us at our entrance. It immediately began with insults, then he began to beat me on the head. All this was seen by the neighbors. "

In the emergency room of the Lyubertsy district hospital, ASI was diagnosed with a concussion, a bruise of the left and right shoulder (the document is at the disposal of the editorial office. - approx. TD ).

"The provision of state protection was refused"

With a request to protect her and children from her ex -husband and bring him accountable for beatings, threats to kill and attack on Street Asya have contacted the police since 2018 more than thirty times. However, the administrative or criminal liability of Artak has never attracted. Moreover, in some cases, her statements refused to register at all.

Asya near the grocery store in which she saved from the attack photo: Elena Anosova for TD

Feeling his impunity, Artak has become even more aggressive. In February 2020, after she submitted another statement to the police, the man attacked her on the Korenevo railway platform (in the Lyubertsy district of the Moscow region), when she returned home. Asya called the police, but she still did not travel. She caught a taxi - Artak rushed at the windshield and began to beat the driver in the open window.

Asya caught another car, but the aggressor drove after and rammed their car several times. The taxi driver did not stop and brought Asya to the police department.

But despite the presence of witnesses, the possibility of taking video recording from observation cameras and conducting a forensic examination, once again a decision was issued to refuse to initiate the case. “Almost all statements were submitted by me to the Malakhov police department, sometimes I turned to the department in the Vykhino-Zhulebino district and to the district police station near the Lyubertsy-1 station. And by all statements, decisions were made to refuse to institute criminal proceedings. I was often refused to give me a notice-notification with a statement of beatings to the police with a statement about beatings, ”Asya explains.

Then she began to look for other help options. On the Internet, she came across information about the consortium of female non -governmental organizations. She filed a request just in case-suddenly someone will answer. “A few days later, Marie Davtyan calls me back (the head of the center. - Approx. TD ) and says that they will provide me with a lawyer. I did not believe it, everyone expected that huge amounts would ask me, but this help turned out to be completely free for me, ”Asya says.

So, in March 2020, she finally got lawyer Maria Nemova. Together with Asya, they began to seek criminal proceedings in the courts and the police regarding the attack. The first thing that Nemova did was to apply for the application of state protection measures to the Malakhov police department of the MU MPD “Lyubertskoye” and filed with her an application for the commission of the crime under the article “Torture” (Article 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). These protection measures, as Nemova explained to such cases, could be applied before the initiation of the case. In this case, Asya could count on housing protection and personal protection, the issuance of special means of personal protective protection, communications and warning about the danger, as well as to relocate to another place of residence where safety will be ensured.

Asya at the railway station, where the former partner attacked her photo: Elena Anosova for TD

An application verification was entrusted to the district authorized police officer of the Malakhovsky police department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia “Lyubertysk” by the police major Alexei Pivaev. Nemova constantly called him with a request to conduct a proper verification of the application, accompanied Asya to his reception, reported witnesses who could confirm the circumstances of the torture indicated in the statement of the crime, even found and interviewed them herself.

“They have confirmed the systematic nature of the infliction of physical and mental suffering of Ace. But, despite the testimony of witnesses, the evidence and egregious nature of what happened, as well as the possibility of requesting video recordings from observation cameras and conducting a forensic examination, a decree was issued to refuse to institute criminal proceedings. The provision of state protection also refused, ”says Nemova.

The cancellation of the refusal to initiate a criminal case, Nemov achieved through the court. The complaint was satisfied , recognizing the inaction of the policeman illegal. However, even after this decision, Pivaev again refused to initiate the case and state protection.

To be closer

Like many other people who have experienced difficult trials and want to help others after that, Asya dreams of someday to engage in charity work, open a children's entertainment center in order to bring children from orphanages to it for free. But first Asya should protect her life.

After a long legal work of the Nemovaya and the complaints in the ECHR against the state of non-fulfillment of the obligations to protect against domestic violence in February 2021 against the ex-husband of Asi, they still opened a criminal case.

The reason was the threat of murder (part 1 of Article 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), which he expressed Ace on September 28, 2019. That evening, he struck the Asya returning from the work at the railway station, took out a knife and began to threaten her. She was saved in a grocery store.

Asya at a public transport stop photo: Elena Anosova for TD

The saleswoman of a small shop later confirmed the story of Asi: “At about ten in the evening I was preparing a store for closing, and at that time the girl ran. Her appearance left much to be desired, she was very scared, and her face was tearful. Following her, a man ran into the store, he was very excited, rage sparkled in his eyes, he was very angry at the woman who ran in front of him and said that he would kill her. At that moment, when a woman ran, she shouted: “Help, he will kill me now!” Frightened, I let the woman let the woman into the office, the man rushed after her, but I told him to stand still and did not try to go there. ”

The store employee called the Chop's employees. Asya drew number 112. “While we were waiting for the police and Chopovtsev, the man was in the store, spoke loudly in Armenian with a woman and gestured violently. The woman cried and stood silently in anticipation of the police, ”the saleswoman said.

The police took an explanation and statement from Asi, and Akopyan was taken to the duty unit. Then the district Pivaev was on duty - the one to which Asya turned in connection with threats and attacks dozens of times, Pivaev interviewed Akopyan and released. A little later, passing in the case by a witness, Pivaev testified that during the audit, it was not possible to establish witnesses and eyewitnesses to the crime, it was also compiled that there was no immediate threat to the life of Movsisyan by Akopyan.

According to Nemova, the inquiry officer who aroused the business rudely spoke with Asya, as if doing a favor: “You complain everywhere, so they told you to excite so that you would not complain and that you are recognized as the victim.” When asked about the upcoming investigative actions in the criminal case, she replied that she had another six months to an inquiry and that without this she had enough other urgent cases.

Asya photo: Elena Anosova for TD

Before the expiration of the statute of limitations for the crime, several months remained. Fearing that the investigation will be delayed again, Asya and Maria turned to the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Moscow Region Ekaterina Semenova. It helped. The preliminary investigation has begun. During it, in the summer, Artak was conducted at the house - they were looking for a knife with which he could threaten Ace two years ago, but, of course, by that time he was gone.

At the confrontation with Artak Ace, I had to once again list episodes of violence. When asked why he was on the platform on September 28, 2019, Akopyan replied that he wanted to talk with Asya and admitted that he beat her-the first time in his life-supposedly because he found her correspondence on the social network and a new SIM card. “Throughout my joint living, I raised my hand only once,” Artak said.

However, Asi had completely different memories: “On that day, he greatly beat me with children. He was jealous that I worked as a nightdropolist. After that, I left for the store and lived there for two days. For 13 years, he constantly beat me, beat me even when I was pregnant, broke my neck and nose. ”

When asked if he sent the threats of Ace, he answered negatively, although the message was sent from his number: “When you die so that everyone was sleeping calmly,” and the screenshots of other similar messages remain.

He motivated physical persecution by "to be closer to the children." Although at the beginning of September, his debt on alimony reached almost 600 thousand rubles (in total, Artak should pay 18,000 rubles for two children a month, but all this time he evaded paying).

In July 2021, the murder case was transferred to court. The first meeting was postponed due to the failure to appear of the state prosecutor, at the end of the second, Artak suddenly ceased to understand the Russian language and demanded to provide him with a translator, then close the trial.

After long court hearings, transfers due to the failure to appear of the translator, the judge unexpectedly issued a decision to return the case to the prosecutor's office. Asi defender, lawyer Maria Nemova has already filed an appeal against this decision. But, despite the fact that the criminal case was considered by the justice of the justice of July 2021, the decision on the return of the criminal case was made to the prosecutor only on September 2, when the probability for the defendant to avoid criminal liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations is high.

Asya at a public transport stop photo: Elena Anosova for TD

“Of course, we ask us to cancel this decision as an ASI and her children violating the constitutional rights and is clearly discriminatory,” says Nemova. - The ECHR and the UN Committee to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women have repeatedly noted that the state is obliged to investigate, punish and prevent acts of domestic violence and protect the victim. Alas, these duties of the state in Asi Movsisyan, as in many other victims of domestic violence, are not fulfilled. ”

Now the complaint in the ASI case is under consideration in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In the near future, the government must answer the questions posed in the complaint - in particular, whether the Russian state has fulfilled the obligation to create and efficiently apply the legislative framework for punishment for all forms of violence in the family and ensuring sufficient guarantees for the victims and whether the Russian authorities have fulfilled an effective investigation of all cases of cruelty that they were informed - and prosecute the guilty accountable.

In 2020, due to the pandemic, the number of appeals to the consortium increased by thirty percent-1327 women asked for help. Almost half of them suffered from physical violence. About 10 percent noted that they could not get assistance from law enforcement agencies. The lawyers and lawyers of the Center work in all areas - criminal, administrative and civil cases, complaints in the ECHR and the Constitutional Court - and provide assistance to those who applied throughout the country. Many things last for years and require large costs.

Supporting the work of the consortium, you support the right of victims to defense, safety and life without violence. Please subscribe to monthly donations-so the organization will be able to plan its work, take new things to escort and, possibly, save someone's life.