Criminal case on tax evasion by SRChF withdrawn due to lack of corpus delicti

Today, representatives of the Society of Russian-Chechen Friendship have been handed over the decision on the withdrawal of the criminal case on tax evasion by the SRChF, dealt with by the tax offence investigation department under the Nizhni Novgorod oblast Directorate of Internal Affairs. The case was withdrawn on January 27, 2006 due to lack of corpus delicti.

In particular, the decision signed by police captain Alexander Vorobyov, senior investigating officer, runs: "The investigation has undertaken all measures to collect evidence, however, in the course of the investigation it proved impossible to prove the intention to evade taxes by director Dmitrievskiy, S. М., and chief accountant Chernilevskaya, N. Е., Additional opportunities to collect evidence have been exhausted. Thus, there is no corpus delicti in the actions of Dmitrievskiy, S. М., director of the Public Movement (PM) "Society of Russian-Chechen Friendship", and Chernilevskaya, N. Е., chief accountant of the PM "Society of Russian-Chechen Friendship".

Stanislav Dmitrievskiy, SRChF executive director, expressed satisfaction with the decision: "For the first time during more than a years' pressure on our organization I see an absolutely justified procedural document, based on the law, rather than on the notorious "state interests." Unlike the Soviet district court, the prosecutor's office, the FSB, the tax agencies and the Ministry of Justice, the Directorate of Internal Affairs still abides by the principles of professional honour and law. However, I do not think that this means an end to the campaign of SRChF harassment. It seems that here the human factor has played a role: simply there are people who are prepared to any lawless actions upon the order of the authorities, while others do not want to spoil their reputation."

Meanwhile, the issue of the legitimacy of tax claims to the SRChF by the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate has not been resolved so far – the consideration of the case by the court of arbitrage is suspended until the coming into legal force of the sentence on the case of publication by Stanislav Dmitrievskiy of the addresses by Maskhadov and Zakaev.

As reported earlier, the criminal case No 154403 was initiated on September 2, 2005, by the Nizhni Novgorod oblast Directorate of Internal Affairs under Article 199, part 1, of RF CC, on profit tax evasion by the SRChF. The case was initiated on the basis of the report on the field check by the tax inspectorate No 25 of 16.06.2005, which has now been disputed as illegal at the Nizhni Novgorod court of arbitrage, runs the statement of the Society of Russian-Chechen Friendship handed over to the "Caucasian Knot".