Oleg Shein: "commercial arsons" in central Astrakhan killed 28 persons

During eight recent months, 60 blocks of flats were burnt down in the centre of Astrakhan; 28 persons perished. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Oleg Shein, a State Duma Deputy from the Astrakhan Region and the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) Party.

"The merchants' houses in the city centre were burnt down. For sure, these were arsons. There's an official conclusion of fire supervisors saying that culprits poured petrol in the hallways at 4-5 o'clock in the morning and then set houses on fire. They killed 28 persons," said Oleg Shein.

According to his story, "the main problem of Astrakhan is in direct merge of the municipality with criminal circles." "There is a feeling of their complete impunity - the city has a close bond between the mayoralty and the regional court," he noted.

In his opinion, fires in residential buildings in the city centre began after 2005, when Sergey Bozhenov became the Mayor of Astrakhan.

According to Oleg Shein, there are facts that prove that Astrakhan authorities transfer, without knowledge of residents, the land plots, where their houses stand, to certain commercial companies.

"The house is thrown with firebombs. And every time it appears that the land under the house already has a new owner," he added.

"We managed to reduce the series of 'commercial arsons' through maximum publicity. I repeatedly contacted the presidential administration, MIA, FSB, and spoke to the media. Only after these appeals the arsons were suspended. Besides, people began registering the land under their houses as their property, knowing what's what, but the tragedies continues," said Shein.

He said that he has plenty of documents "proving the criminal activities of individual state officials" at his disposal.

He also reported about strong pressure on the opposition in Astrakhan. "There is a resonant case of the regional deputy Igor Negerev from 'Spravedlivaya Rossiya' (Fair Russia) Party, who had allegedly tripped on a GIBDD (traffic police) officer Volkov. The latter did not suffer, but Negerev was deprived of his parliamentary powers and fined by 160,000 roubles," said Shein.

He also recalled the case against the regional deputy Evgeniy Dunaev from the same Party, who was fined, according to Shein, for his political speech by 130,000 roubles (a criminal case was initiated against him in 2010; he was accused of slander, which was detected by the claimant in the phrase 'cunning Mayor', - note of the "Caucasian Knot"). "By the way, the prosecution argued that the fine amount should be 20,000 roubles, but the court decided to raise the bar," said the deputy.

Meanwhile, the local prosecutor's office is strenuously seeking contacts with the authors of the article "Astrakhan Lawlessness," published by the international edition "Sovershenno Sekretno" (Top Secret), as one of the authors Alex Radowski told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Our study contains the names of the Astrakhan residents, who had provided us with information. Nevertheless, the prosecutor's office insists on meeting the journalists who wrote the article. We have concerns that this meeting has nothing to do with clearing the details of the crimes committed in Astrakhan. There is a suspicion that the authorities just need to figure out exactly those who were involved in preparing the article," said Alex Radowski.

Let us remind you that on April 1 the international weekly "Sovershenno Sekretno" published a broad-scale study "Astrakhan Lawlessness". Part of the article covered the story with journalist Oleg Teplischev, who was beaten, together with his colleague from the "Caucasian Knot" Vyacheslav Yaschenko, when they covered the election of the Mayor of Astrakhan on October 11, 2009, near a polling station. Now Teplischev is accused of attacking the Astrakhan regional MP Rifkat Shabanov. The criminal case on this incident is under additional consideration.

According to the above weekly, on the facts of violations and crimes referred to in their study not a single check was appointed by law enforcement bodies.

The administration of Astrakhan gave no comments on the latest accusations. The "Caucasian Knot" sent several requests to the administration, which remained unanswered.

As to the Investigatory Committee, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was promised to be given comments "in a month".