Criminal case opened in connection with threat against ORChD editor ChelyshevaPRESS-RELEASE #1231 FROM APRIL 4, 2005
March 30, 2005. The Nizhni Novgorod prosecutor opened a criminal case in relation to the threats that were posted at the address of Oksana Chelysheva, editor of IC RCFS. The letter announcing the opening of the case was received by Chelysheva’s relatives on April 2. The letter states, “following the claim about criminal acts the Nizhni Novgorod prosecutor started an inquiry in accordance with article 144 of the Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation, which has resulted in the opening of a criminal case by the regional deputy prosecutor, Stravinskasom V.V., on suspicion of crime in accordance with articles 129 and 130 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation”.
As reported earlier, on March 14, 2005, around 8 p.m., unknown individuals distributed flyers in the neighborhood of apartment buildings 12, 14, and 16 on Iyulskikh Dney street in Nizhni Novgorod. The flyers contained slander, insults, and direct threats directed to Oksana Anatol'evna Chelysheva, editor of the Information Center of the inter-regional non-governmental organization “Russian-Chechen Friendship Society” (see our press releases #1208 from March 15, 2005 and #1209 from march 15, 2005 and #1228 from March 30, 2005). The flyers were distributed in the mail boxes in the aforementioned apartment buildings, and were also posted by the entrances to the buildings. Chelysheva lives in one of these buildings. On march 15 Chelysheva and Dmitrievskiy brought a criminal complaint to the Nizhni Novgorod province prosecutor.
On March 22, 2005 the IC RCFS was informed by the representative of the prosecutor’s office that the statement was given to the prosecutor of the Leninskiy district in the city of Nizhni Novgorod as late as March 21 for investigation.
On March 29, 2005 the Leninskiy district prosecutor finally began the inquiry into the case of the threats at the address of Oksana Chelsyheva, which was submitted already on March 15. Until then the prosecutor did not take any actions to investigate the facts of the case that were presented in the statement.
In the afternoon of that day the deputy prosecutor of the Leninskiy district, Olga Bochkova, called Stanislav Dmitrievskiy and said that he quickly needed to give his testimony. An appointment was made for the morning of March 30. However, in the evening (around 8 p.m.) on March 29 the deputy prosecutor went to see Dmitrievskiy in his mother’s apartment, explaining that the matter could not wait and took a written statement from him.
On the very same day, March 29, Chelysheva’s statement about the criminal acts committed against her was turned over to the prosecutor of the Kanavinskiy district in the city of Nizhni Novgorod, since the building where she lives is located in that district. Chelysheva is presently on a business trip to Geneva, and her relatives were informed about the decision via a certificate letter from the Nizhni Novgorod prosecutor on April 1, 2005. On the next day Chelysheva received a letter with the report of the opening of the criminal case from the Nizhni Novgorod region prosecutor.
According to the statement, the individuals guilty of distributing the flyers are at a minimum guilty of violating the law with respect to part 3, article 129 (slander associated with accusations of grave criminal acts), article 137 (violation of right to privacy), and article 213 (hooliganism) in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
According to paragraph 1, article 140 in the criminal procedure code of the Russian Federation, “the examiner of any investigative agency, investigator, and prosecutor, are required to accept and review statements about any completed crime or criminal intent and… issue a decision within three days of the submittal of the statement”. According to paragraph 3 in the same article, “the prosecutor … has the right to … extend this period to 10 days providing the 1st paragraph is observed”. (Our corr.)
Source: ORChD (T/B) |
