Press Release, 7.12.2022

Photo: a screenshot the @necoglaioff YouTube channel

Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov sent a letter to Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, demanding to check the information about the torture by police officers of the detainee Nikolai Lebedev, as well as asked to identify and bring all those responsible to justice.

According to information previously published in several Russian media, on 9 November, 2022, a citizen of the Republic of Moldova, Nikolay Lebedev, also known as the blogger Nekoglai, was brought to the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Presnensky district of Moscow at around 19:00. He was held in the department until 22:00. According to Lebedev, he was subjected to torture in the police station, in particular, he was beaten and kicked, choked, and threatened with sexual violence. In addition, they shaved Lebedev his head and eyebrows. The next day, 10 November, doctor E. Mammadov at the emergency room recorded that Lebedev had “numerous hematomas” and “abrasions” on his head and body, and “abrasions” on his arms and legs. Lebedev also claims that after entering the temporary detention centre for foreign citizens in Sakharovo, he was beaten as the police wanted to make him testify against himself about drugs.

The official reason for Lebedev’s detention was related to his violation of immigration laws. However, Lebedev himself claims that the real reason was a video he posted on TikTok on 8 November, 2022, where he parodied the actions of a Russian serviceman. Nikolai Rybakov noted in his address that “the ethical inappropriateness of such jokes at a time when thousands of people on both sides of the conflict are dying from hostilities cannot justify police violence and arbitrariness”.

Yabloko notes that the use of violence against Nikolai Lebedev falls under Article 286 Part 4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of power committed with the use of torture), Article 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (torture), and Article 302 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (compulsion to testify).

“Over the past year, the number of complaints about the use of torture in police stations has increased significantly. The indifference of the Investigative Committee to information about torture leads to the fact that criminals in uniform feel unpunished and continue to use violence against detainees,” Nikolai Rybakov emphasised.