Court mitigates punishment of Nalchik resident for attacking law enforcers

The court has reduced the prison term for Andrei Baryshev, a resident of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), a figurant in the case of an attack on law enforcers. He had claimed that law enforcers themselves had beaten up and slandered him.

The Fifth Court of Cassation in the city of Pyatigorsk has reduced the sentence of Andrei Baryshev, a resident of Nalchik, by two months; earlier Andrei was sentenced to three years and ten months in a strict regime colony for using violence against three law enforcers. The convict himself stated that he was beaten up by policemen, who had slandered him and inflicted bodily injuries on themselves in order to avoid punishment, the "Kavkaz.Realii"* project has reported.

Baryshev asserts that during his detention, policemen were in civilian clothes and travelled in an ordinary car; therefore, he did not recognize them as law enforcers. They beat him up, as a result of which Andrei received a brain trauma and almost lost his sight.

In his complaint, Baryshev claimed that his rights to defence were violated, since the appointed advocates provide him with no help and failed to defend his position. He also pointed out that the law enforcers who detained him were much bigger than him, and he could not harm them.

When considering the appeal, the KBR's Supreme Court (SC) took into account the fact that Andrei has his disabled mother as a mitigating factor, but excluded the convict's young age from the list of mitigating circumstances.