20 June 2018, 20:15
HRC: refusal to investigate Oyub Titiev's detention not grounded
Investigation into the circumstances surrounding the detention of Oyub Titiev, the head of the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial", is incomplete and ineffective, reports the scientific advisory conclusion on the rights defender's case prepared by the permanent commission of the Human Rights Council (HRC).
Oyub Titiev has been under arrest on the charge of marijuana possession since January 11.He pleaded not guilty and stated that the drugs were planted on him by a law enforcer. On June 14, the EU Parliament adopted a resolution with a request to free Oyub Titiev from the charges.
The document was sent to the General Prosecutor's Office of Russia with a request to verify it and take measures of the prosecutor's response, states the report posted on the website of the HRC on June 19.
The very conclusion is also published on the website. The decisions to refuse to open a criminal case are unfounded, since investigators did not base their findings on the information which supported the Oyub Titiev's statement, members of the commission conclude.
According to the commission, the investigators intentionally and illegally narrowed the subject of the procedural verification, conducted on the complaint filed by the Oyub Titiev's defence and intentionally did not verify the circumstances, "the establishment of which would inevitably lead to the conclusion that the criminal case had been falsified."
The procedural verification was incomplete and ineffective, the HRC states. The mentioned violations make it possible to conclude that the procedural decisions had been made unlawfully, the experts believe.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’on June 20, 2018 at 01:28 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
