The Yaroslavl court received another case of torture in the FSIN system — this time, the employees of the pre-trial detention center distinguished themselves. The investigation of the case lasted 4 years. Victims Viktor Nebukin and Alexander Kovalev were tortured in October 2016. According to their testimony, the defendants in the so-called “big Yaroslavl case” also took part in the case. It was largely thanks to the investigation of that case that the new one was brought to court.
Viktor Nebukin during an investigative experiment. Screenshot
The victim Viktor Nebukin ended up in the Yaroslavl pre-trial detention center in transit — he was transferred to Moscow, to the Serbsky Institute for a psychological and psychiatric examination.
At the same time, the second victim, Alexander Kovalev, was in the same pre-trial detention center. He was transferred to St. Petersburg to participate in the trial.
As follows from the case file, one day, in the morning, the SIZO officers came to the cell where Nebukin was sitting, ordered to get dressed and go to the prefabricated department. He never got to him. According to Nebukin's testimony, he was taken to one of the cold buildings of the pre-trial detention center, a few minutes later Alexander Kovalev was brought there, but he was taken up a floor.
“I then heard screams from the second floor, obscene language. After that, I began to make comments about this, on what occasion they beat me. <…> I saw that Alexander was lying on his right side and writhing in pain, ”it follows from the protocol of Nebukin’s interrogation.
Then came his turn — Nebukin was stripped to his underpants: “One at a time, the employees ran up and hit, and then ran away … After a while, I got up, the employee tried to twist my left arm, for a break … Lying on the floor face down, the employee sat on the lower back , another employee sat down on his knee and began to stretch his face with his hands, including putting his fingers in his mouth.
And here is what Kovalev says: “They put me against the wall, legs and arms shoulder-width apart. After that, they started beating me with rubber batons by about 5 employees of the pre-trial detention center, each in turn. They beat me in the ribs and legs, which caused me severe physical pain. My beating lasted about 7 minutes. <…> Spartak [one of the participants in the beating] then said: «Look what happens.» Then on the ground floor I saw a large number of employees — at least 7-8 people for sure. Nebukin then stood naked facing the wall, he was in his shorts. The staff were around him. At the same time, they approached him in turn and struck him with punches and kicks on the torso, as if they were practicing blows on him. They had at least two rubber sticks… Nebukin just stood there, did not resist.”
Shortly after the beating, Nebukin was transferred to Moscow, to the Butyrka prison, where he awaited a psychiatric examination. His beatings were documented there:
“multiple bruises of the soft tissues, both upper limbs, in the region of both buttocks, both thighs.”
Some time later, when relatives were able to locate Nebukin, Moscow lawyer Alexander Fokin came to see him. He claimed Victor's bloody clothes and sent the biomaterial for examination. Fokin also filed an application with the prosecutor's office on the fact of beating his principal.
The lawyer appealed to both the Investigative Committee and the Federal Penitentiary Service, but none of these appeals led to the initiation of a case.