This was announced by Olga Dinze, the lawyer of the Ukrainian political prisoner Yevgeny Panov, who has been detained for more than six months in the pre-detention centre of Simferopol, during a press conference that was organized by the Crimean Human Rights Group.
Olga Dinze said that her client was subjected to cruel torture, traces of which even now are visible on his body.
“When I managed to meet with Eugene in the pre-detention centre – it was in November 2016, during the conversation he told me that for three days he was tortured. All this time, from the moment of his actual detention on 7 August, there had a black bag on his head. He did not see the faces of people who used torture against him, but he told what tortures were applied to him.
He was hung up in handcuffs; he was tortured with an electric shock, connecting electrodes to him, including his legs. His legs burned all over the place. He was beaten, taken for the execution, threatened, including psychological pressure, talked about relatives, etc.
After this, Eugene was taken to the world court and appointed him 15 days of arrest. At the same time, he explained that he was also putted in a bag. The bag was removed only in the court session room, and, accordingly, the judge was aware of this, but he still made the decision about arrest. Panov’s face was injured. Until now, he has a scar on his face. After the trial, he was taken back to the FSS office. After all that he was signing everything that he was given. Currently, he is getting medical help in the pre-detention centre; he has severe pain in his back,” – the lawyer said.
Olga Dinze also reported that she filed the protocols of Panov’s surveys regarding the torture to the investigative committee of the Russian Federation. After that, the materials were sent for pre-investigation checks.
“At the moment I know that the decision to refuse to open a criminal case was made on 10 February. I have found out about it only last week. And only then I was able to get acquainted with the pre-investigation materials, “- said Olga Dinze.
According to her information, the check was conducted poorly, and now Panov’s defence is preparing to appeal its results.
“We believe that this check was not carried out in full. As part of the audit, a forensic medical examination with a person’s examination was not carried out. In addition, the investigator, judging by the materials of the audit, did not even communicate with my client. Accordingly, he has not witnessed the bodily injuries my client has, those marks from burns that have remained. There are many marks like that, I personally saw them, and to this day these traces have stayed.
In the case of forensic medical examination with the examination of the face, it would be possible to find out the time and nature of the bodily harm, and, accordingly, to identify persons who might have been involved in the torture. The Investigative Committee has taken all measures to ensure that this criminal case for torture was not initiated. Since now I have received the documents on the check and the decision to refuse to open a criminal case, we intend to appeal against it and ask the prosecutor’s office to issue an appropriate instruction, including forensic medical examination, “- the lawyer said.
In total, 9 people were detained in this case, but not all detainees are accused of diversions. The CHRG experts found out that in the cases of these political prisoners the Russian authorities use illegal methods of investigation.
