A police officer has been found guilty in the death of Krasnodar resident Afrosin.

A court in Krasnodar found Dmitry Korchagin guilty of the death of detainee Ilya Afrosin. The former security officer was sentenced to six years in prison, although the prosecutor had requested 11 years.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on February 27, it was reported that the prosecutor requested an 11-year sentence in a maximum-security penal colony for police officer Dmitry Korchagin, accused in the death of Ilya Afrosin. Korchagin was charged under two articles of the Russian Criminal Code: "Intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm resulting in the death of the victim"—for which the prosecutor requested eight years in prison—and "Abuse of Official Authority"—for which the prosecutor requested six years. The prosecution also requested that Korchagin be banned from holding public office and stripped of his special rank of police captain.

Today, the Prikubansky District Court of Krasnodar announced the verdict against former police officer Dmitry Korchagin, the human rights organization "Team Against Torture" (included in the register of foreign agents) reported on its Telegram channel.

"He was found guilty and sentenced to six years in a maximum-security penal colony under two articles ("Intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm resulting in the death of the victim" (Part 4 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code) and "Abuse of office" (Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code). He was also banned from holding public office for two years and stripped of his special rank of police captain," the publication states.

As a reminder, regarding the death of Ilya Afrosin It became known in September 2021 after his father, Yuri Afrosin, appealed to human rights activists. The man said his son, born in 1989, had been detained twice by security forces. On June 29, 2021, after the first detention, Ilya Afrosin sent his sister a video showing signs of injuries, and after the second detention, on July 1, he stopped communicating with his relatives. He was found on the steps of a store and died in an ambulance. According to the death certificate, Afrosin died of a spleen injury.

A spleen injury, which is listed as the cause of Afrosin's death, occurs as a result of beatings. With timely assistance, a person with such an injury can be saved, noted doctor Larisa Egorova.

Residents of Kuban have repeatedly complained of torture

In In the Krasnodar Territory and throughout Russia, torture has become "commonplace" among security forces, with Kuban being one of the most disadvantaged regions in this regard, human rights activists told the "Caucasian Knot" in 2021.

In December 2021, the Kuban prosecutor's office announced the opening of a criminal investigation against security forces in connection with the dying statement about torture made by Sochi resident Yevgeny Ipatov, who was found dead on railroad tracks. In the video, Ipatov claimed that he was tortured, forced to incriminate himself and confess to stealing 60,000 rubles from a retired couple. The mother of the deceased reported that relatives consider the police version of his suicide implausible. An examination of the Sochi resident's body did not allow forensic experts consider his death neither a suicide nor a murder.

One of the well-known cases was that of Mardiros Demerchyan, a builder of the Sochi Olympic facilities. He was accused of stealing cable and subjected to brutal torture. However, the investigation refused to open a case of torture; moreover, Demerchyan himself was charged with false accusation. The court found him guilty, but the verdict was overturned, and the case was sent for a retrial. In May 2018, the Adler court closed the case against Demerchyan, but did not exonerate the accused.

According to Mardiros's relatives, after the family effectively lost their breadwinner, they didn't even have enough money for food, according to a "Caucasian Knot" article "Life after torture. How Mardiros Demerchyan lives after being abused by law enforcement officers."