Investigators retract refusal to institute a case on drugs planted to Oyub Titiev

The chief of the Investigating Department has cancelled a decision to refuse to institute a criminal case, made after an investigation into a complaint filed by rights defender Oyub Titiev about the drugs planted on him by law enforcers. This has been reported today by the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 2, the HRC "Memorial" reported on the investigators' refusal to institute criminal proceedings over the complaint filed by Oyub Titiev about the drugs planted to him. Investigator questioned the law enforcers who had not confirmed the Oyub Titiev's version and thus refused to institute a criminal case, the rights defenders noted.

Earlier, the rights defenders have complained that the investigators were just simulating the investigation into the Oyub Titiev's complaint about drugs planted on him. They have noted that the investigators did not inquire about the records from the surveillance video cameras at the police station and that important evidence was lost during the investigation into the complaint.

After the materials in the case against Oyub Titiev had been transferred to the Investigating Department for Chechnya of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), the style of the investigation into the case did not change, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by rights defender Pyotr Zaikin.

"There is absolutely no difference in the investigation into the case after the transfer [of the case] to the ICRF's Investigating Department for Chechnya. No investigating actions were conducted with the involvement of the defendant. The materials of the investigation into the of Oyub Titiev's complaints about unlawful actions of the police are transferred to the Investigating Department," the advocate explained.

Let us remind you that on February 7, it became known that the Oyub Titiev's case had been withdrawn from the Investigating Department of the Kurchaloi OMVD (Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) by the decision of the Deputy Prosecutor of Chechnya and transferred to the ICRF's Investigating Department for Chechnya.

According to the advocate, the defence does not reject the idea of seeking to transfer the investigation into the Oyub Titiev's case outside Chechnya.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.