The policemen involved in “Merekha’s case” are under house arrest

Investigation on a criminal case of four ex-officers of Department of Interior Affairs in Predgorny district of Krasnodar region accused of using violence against local resident Viyacheslav Merekha aged 44 is accomplished, the defendants are under house arrest.

At night of December, 15, 2010, Viyacheslav Merekha, resident of Kalaborka farm, was detained in a drunken state near his house by militia officers of Department of Interior Affairs in Predgorny district and delivered to militia standby unit. Social moderators of the Russian South reported later that he underwent physical and moral pressure. The sufferer’s relatives expressed fear for his life for the reason of the man’s poor health.  

The charge against Sergey Petrov, Nicolay Kniyazhov, Vadim Ahmedov and Alexey Golovachev was brought on April, 26, 2012, i.e. only half a year after committing the crime, a report of the web-site of “Civil Verdict” foundation runs.

Earlier, the criminal case was initiated against unestablished persons although the aggrieved man directly pointed to those who had tortured him and knew their first and last names. The case was set in motion only this March when the investigators received an expert's report from Moscow medics who had verified the data of two expert opinions on Merekha’s case that contradicted each other: those of experts from Stavropol and Kavkazskie Mineralnye Vody.

At present Viyacheslav Merekha aged 44 is unemployed and bringing up a ten-years-old son. Now he has undergone three most serious operations. He currently resides outside Stavropol region for safety, he himself explains”, STRC “Stavropolye” reports.

Human rights activists have directed materials of cases of torture which are not being investigated to Committee of Inquiry of the Russian Federation (CIR).

“Merekha’s case was referred to Chairman of CIR Alexander Bastrykin among 13 criminal cases from Russian regions in which law enforcement officers are suspected of torture and cruelty to citizens. According to representatives of “Civil Verdict” foundation who are carrying out legal control of these cases, for years they have not been investigated properly. The main goal of their appeal was to achieve complete, thorough and efficient investigation of the above mentioned cases, "Civitas.ru" reports.