A Sochi resident told the “Team Against Torture” that the police hit him in the nose after several requests to show his identification

Sochi resident Konstantin Beltyukov told the “Team Against Torture” that the police beat him after several requests to show his official identification. As Sergei Romanov, a lawyer for the human rights organization, clarified, an investigation is underway against the security forces.

At the end of March, police stopped Beltyukov and his girlfriend on their way to a shopping center. The security forces demanded their documents, but the man only had a driver's license with him. As the victim notes, the police officers refused to identify themselves. In response to Beltyukov’s request to show his official identification, the security forces hit him in the nose and knocked him to the ground.

Following this, the couple was detained and taken to the police department of the Makarenko microdistrict. There Beltyukov and his girlfriend were kept for several hours and a report was drawn up for petty hooliganism (Article 20.21 of the Administrative Code) - the man allegedly swore, and his companion was drunk. Protocols, as told by “Caucasus. Realities”, CPT lawyer Sergei Romanov, was examined by the police department, and fines of five hundred and one thousand rubles were imposed.

In addition, according to Beltyukov, he voluntarily unlocked the phone and showed it to the security forces, “since he had nothing to hide.” The man recalls that the police threatened him with a medical examination for drug use, to which he also agreed, but they did not take him anywhere.

After leaving the police department, Beltyukov immediately went to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a bruise of the soft tissue of his nose. Later, a psychotherapist diagnosed the man with post-traumatic stress disorder and prescribed him a course of treatment.

“After what happened, I started having problems sleeping and frequent headaches. My nose hurts. There was also a fear of police officers,” the man recalls.

The victim found police information on the Ministry of Internal Affairs website. According to him, these are Alexander Ipatko and Oganes Kremlyan. The next day Beltyukov wrote a statement to the Investigative Committee.

“The investigator promptly questioned him, ordered a medical examination, the victim’s blood was seized from the scene, and materials about the offense were collected from the police department. Judging by what the applicant said, the investigator and employees of the internal security service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs worked promptly,” Sergei Romanov clarified.

According to Beltyukov, after contacting the Investigative Committee, he began to receive threats, because of which the man had to move to another apartment.