Translated material
Six people who took the Areg Schepikhin from the Yaroslavl station were accused of abduction and abduction of authority; An extremist business was brought to the businessman himself
The Investigative Committee reported on the charges of detainees related to the kidnapping of a businessman and blogger Areg Schepikhin in Moscow.
The defendants of the case are charged with the abduction of a person (Article 126 of the Criminal Code) and the abuse of authority (Article 286 of the Criminal Code). Today, investigators plan to appeal to the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow so that the detainees are elected preventive measure.
A criminal case was also instituted against Shchepikhin himself - he is suspected of calling for extremism (part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code) and the initiation of hatred and enmity with the threat of violence (paragraph “a” of part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code).
In the video recordings of the blogger, the security forces found “signs of the motivation for the commission of violent actions in relation to a group of persons distinguished by national/ethnic characteristics, as well as their humiliation.” What kind of rollers are in question is unknown. According to SK, soon Schepikhin is charged with the case - he must also choose a preventive measure.
The abduction of the businessman occurred in the evening of June 3. On that day, a group of men in the area of the Yaroslavl station pushed Schepikhin into the trunk of a black Mercedes with flashing lights and took away in an unknown direction. The reason for the abduction was the videos that the man posted in social networks: he spoke insultingly about the Chechens, the Qur'an and Allah.
After the video spreading the kidnapping of Shchepikhin in the media, he himself was released, and the police began to check. Later, the victim said that he was forced to record a video with an apology and say that he was under the influence of drugs.
“Roughly speaking, they stole me, took me out of town. They did not torture much, they interrogated more <...> they were interested in whether I was holding any connections or contacts with Ukraine, whether I was somehow connected with the opposition, ”the blogger claimed . He added that after the abduction, he "broke his ears with a pistol with a butt." In the video where the man shared the details of what happened, bruises and abrasions are visible on his face.
On the morning of June 4, Ahmed Dudaev, assistant to the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, commented on what had happened: he said that Shchepikhin "was not abducted, but detained." Dudaeva then also claimed that a blogger in Chechnya had a case about an insult to the feelings of believers (Article 148 of the Criminal Code). At the same time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that the businessman’s checks are verified for extremism.