In North Ossetia, detained Ingush resident tortured, his advocate asserts

In North Ossetia, law enforcers impede the work of the defence of Arthur Podgorny, a 20-year-old resident of Ingushetia, and torture him to confess to murder of a man. This was stated by the advocate of the young man. In turn, the law enforcement bodies deny the information.

On June 12, Arthur Podgorny was detained on suspicion of murdering 54-year-old Georgy Gashokin, who worked as a taxi driver. This was reported by his advocate Leila Gadaborsheva.

"Arthur was detained in Orenburg, where he served in the army, and then he was transferred to North Ossetia," the advocate told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to the information of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), on March 6, a 26-year-old son of the killed man, a resident of the Cossack village of Terskaya, appealed to the police and filed a complaint stating that on March 1, Georgy Gashokin left home in his car and never returned.

On March 11, the body of Georgy Gashokin with four stab wounds to the chest was found on the outskirts of the village of Predgornoe of the Mozdok District of North Ossetia, near the highway in direction of Ingushetia.

The murder was committed during the period from 10:00 a.m. of March 2 to 7:50 p.m. of March 6. This was reported by the resolution about bringing Arthur Podgorny as a suspect that was presented to the "Caucasian Knot".

"Actually, the entire charge is based on the evidence of a shepherd who saw the car and two persons. However, the shepherd did not specify who exactly was in the car and what he was doing there. I requested that the investigating bodies should carry out a confrontation with the witness; however, it has not been carried out," Leila Gadaborsheva has stated.

Meanwhile, according to the advocate's report, the case contains no specific evidences that would even indirectly point to the fact that Arthur Podgorny was involved in the murder. "He never had the car, of which the investigating bodies speak, and he never saw the killed man," the advocate states.

According to the story of Leila Gadaborsheva, starting from the detention of Arthur Podgorny, investigator impede the work of a lawyer, and Arthur himself, as he told his advocate, is subjected to total psychological and physical pressure to take blame upon himself.

"They seated him, being handcuffed, on a chair, connected electrical wires to his fingers, supplied electric current through a transformer, and left him in such a situation for several hours. Besides, they put a sharp object under his nails. According to the Arthur's story, the torture was carried out by operating policemen in the presence of the very investigator," the advocate said.

Besides, according to the advocate's report, Arthur Podgorny is threatened that if he does not take the blame upon himself, they will rape him.

"Again, according to the Arthur's story, to show the real threat, they several times took off his trousers, but he was allowed to get dressed at once," Leila Gadaborsheva says.

The advocate has reported that after the threat of rape, Arthur Podgorny agreed to take the blame upon himself and confirmed that he had allegedly bought the car of Georgy Gashokin; "however, the investigator has no evidence to support that fact."

"Arthur Podgorny has told me that he will never allow to be raped, since he could not stay alive after that, so he was willing to incriminate himself in the murder," the advocate has said.

On June 14, when Leila Gadaborsheva visited her client, she managed to persuade Arthur Podgorny not to confess to the murder. "During the conversation with me, my client was very depressed and terrified, and he asked for help, in particular, to protect him and to stop torture with electric current and threats of rape," the advocate said.

On July 5, the advocate visited her client at the temporary detention facility (IVS) of Mozdok for the recent time. After that, the advocate and the family members of Arthur Podgorny lost any possibility to communicate with him. "On July 10, the Arthur Podgorny's family members, who bring him food, informed me that they could not find him anywhere," advocate Leila Gadaborsheva said.

On the other day, she has contacted the investigator, and he has reported that, starting from on July 8, Arthur Podgorny is kept at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) of Vladikavkaz; however, personnel of the special unit of the SIZO denied the information.

Besides, on July 11, the advocate filed a complaint to the Prosecutor's Office of Mozdok and claimed that her work to defend Arthur Podgorny was impeded. On July 14, she has filed a similar complaint to the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation.

"More than one month has passed since the beginning of the preliminary investigation. During this period, no significant investigative action has been conducted, no examination has been assigned or performed, and no confrontation has been carried out involving a witness who would point to Arthur Podgorny as a criminal participant," states the complaint filed by Leila Gadaborsheva.

The advocate requests the Prosecutors' Office to urgently reveal the Arthur Podgorny's whereabouts, withdraw the criminal case from the investigator and assign it to another investigator. Besides, the advocate asks to apply strict disciplinary actions against the investigator and, if it is revealed that Arthur Podgorny had been beaten or killed, institute a criminal case against the investigator.

"Till present, I and the family members of Arthur Podgorny are not aware of his whereabouts, and we are even not aware whether he is alive at all," Leila Gadaborsheva has said.

At present, the "Caucasian Knot" has no comments of representatives of the Prosecutors' Office with regard to the complaints filed by the advocate of Arthur Podgorny.

Valentina Podgornaya, the mother of Arthur Podgorny, also fears for the fate of her son. "I am convinced of the innocence of my son. And the investigating bodies are also aware of the fact that Arthur is innocent, and they just have no one to be incriminated of the crime," the mother of Arthur Podgorny said in her interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

FSIN: medical examination of Arthur Podgorny reveals no bodily injuries

Arthur Podgorny, who is kept at the SIZO of Vladikavkaz, has undergone the required medical examination, during which no bodily damage or injuries have been revealed. This was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent at the Department of the Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN) for North Ossetia.

"The person under investigation filed no complaints and grievances to personnel and administration of the SIZO about the conditions of detention. Besides, we received no complaints from relatives and the advocate of the person under investigation about his state of health," stated a staff member of the FSIN.

In turn, a staff member of the Vladikavkaz SIZO has stated that the conditions of detention of Arthur Podgorny comply with the requirements of the laws.

The Supervision Commission on implementation of the public control over the provision of human rights in places of detention in North Ossetia has not received any complaints from relatives of Arthur Podgorny and his advocate about the violation of his rights. This was reported by Alexander Kucher, Chairman of the Supervision Commission.

"The Supervision Commission, established in 2008, has accumulated sufficient experience of interaction with the prosecutor's office, the heads of the penitentiary service with regard to routine and on non-routine inspections when we react to the information received by the Supervision Commission," Alexander Kucher has explained.

According to his statement, the Supervision Commission is ready to respond to publications in printed and electronic media and to the message about violation of human rights of a person kept in jail.