Sochi OMON commanders deny the guilt of their subordinates of beating tourists

Commanders of Sochi OMON (Special Militia) (Krasnodar Territory) deny the guilt of their subordinates of beating in summer 2006 young men in the territory of children's summer camp "Druzhba". They made this statement on January 23 at the Lazorevskoe District Court of Sochi, where eight OMON fighters are on trial, Ilya Melkonyan, father of one of the victims, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to Melkonyan, whose minor son Gevorg was beaten, the commander of the OMON Nikolai Guzev, his former deputy and the chief of the staff of Sochi OMON asserted at the court, that their accused subordinates were innocent.

"Nikolai Guzev has declared that not the OMON fighters, but our children are guilty, who, being minors, were allegedly at night in the 'drinking' place, behaved defiantly and refused to present their IDs to militiamen," Ilya Melkonyan said. He is confident that these evidences are "bald lie" and "nobody checked children's IDs."

Also, the commanders of the Sochi OMON asserted that they did not give out masks and electric shockers to the fighters, which, according to the investigation, they used during their raid to the children's health-improving complex "Druzhba".

The "Caucasian Knot" informed earlier that eight OMON fighters are in the prisoners' dock, four of them are arrested, the others are under recognizance not to leave. They all are charged of excess of official powers (Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).