Human rights defender Nagavkin complains about falsifications in his case

Igor Nagavkin, a human rights defender, has informed the head of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) about falsifications in the case initiated against him about the theft allegedly committed by him in a jewellery store. He has reported that the forensic centre for the Volgograd Region had ignored his arguments about the violations during the linguistic expertise, on the basis of which the prosecution had demanded three years in colony for him within another case opened against him – on disorganizing the work of the SIZO (pre-trial prison).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Nagavkin had declared his innocence, emphasizing that the expert had invented the phrase on which the accusation was based.

Nagavkin stated that law enforcers had provoked him by placing him in a cell with "paedophiles," which caused a conflict with the SIZO staff on May 15, 2023. The linguistic expert, Yulia Novak, assessed the swear word addressed by Nagavkin to the SIZO employees as a threat to their lives. Nagavkin believes that the expert made her conclusions "to please investigators."

On May 14, Nagavkin asked to treat the linguistic expertise of his statements as inadmissible evidence. The expertise was conducted in gross violations of the law, Igor has explained.

He has stressed that none of his arguments about the illegality of the linguistic expertise, as well as about the subjectivity and low quality of the expert's work at the Central Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for the Volgograd Region were ever heard. In his complaint to Alexander Bastrykin, the Chairman of the ICRF, he asked for "Mr Bastrykin's personal intervention" into the inquiry into facts of "corruption." Nagavkin has emphasized that investigators had committed forgeries and falsifications.