Alexander Bastrykin left for demolition – Picture of the Day – Kommersant

On August 24, the head of the TFR, Alexander Bastrykin, arrived at the site of the dismantling of the historical monument – the house of E.P. Saltykova in St. Petersburg, to stop the demolition, and also to interrogate the general director of the management company. He acknowledged the unsatisfactory work of local investigators who deal with the abuses of the Committee for the Protection of Monuments, and strengthened the investigation team with employees of the central office of the ICR. At the end of the day, he scheduled a meeting with city defenders.

The head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, arrived in St. Petersburg to inspect the historic building “House of E. P. Saltykova”, where LLC “Severnaya Zemlnaya Kompaniya”, which rents a land plot, carried out dismantling work. Investigators interrogated the company’s CEO Anton Plyuev. The house is being investigated in a criminal case on abuse of power (Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) by employees of the Committee for State Control and Protection of Monuments (KGIOP), which have not yet been identified.

According to investigators, officials could have contributed to changes in the years of construction of historical buildings (from the period before 1917 to later) in the interests of developers. The materials available to the ICR, for example, speak of the already destroyed Manege of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment and the building of the Vasilyevsky wine town.

During the visit of Mr. Bastrykin on Wednesday, it was decided to strengthen the investigation team on this case with employees of the central apparatus of the ICR. Petersburg Main Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee, the head of the department gave an unsatisfactory rating and decided that it was necessary to conduct an audit in relation to those who were involved in the investigation.

Some time before the visit of Alexander Bastrykin, on August 24, a video appeared in the Telegram chat of the St. Petersburg city defenders “SOS SPb SNOS”, in which police officers loaded, presumably, workers into official cars.

The events, after which the head of the TFR drew attention to Saltykova’s house, took place on August 16. The tenant of the territory where the building is located began the demolition of the outbuildings, in connection with which the city defenders arrived at the site. One of their leaders, Oleg Mukhin, when he started filming, was detained and beaten by several employees, after which he was forced to write a receipt that he had no claims against them (see “Kommersant” dated August 16). Mr. Mukhin managed to escape and turned to law enforcement agencies and the hospital. Doctors recorded a fracture of the right zygomatic bone, and the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for St. Petersburg opened a criminal case on unlawful imprisonment (clause “a” part 2 of article 127 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and beatings (Article 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). One of the attackers, Nikolai Markov, was given a preventive measure by the court in the form of a ban on certain actions, while the investigation requested that he be taken into custody.

The text of the message about the visit to Saltykova’s house on August 24 says that Alexander Bastrykin instructed his subordinates to initiate another criminal case against Nikolai Markov and take him into custody.

In the near future, the head of the TFR intends to organize a meeting with St. Petersburg city defenders. “The chairman of the TFR also instructed, in accordance with the procedure established by law, to suspend work on the demolition of disputed cultural heritage sites,” the investigative department said in a statement.

Note that Alexander Bastrykin pays special attention to the struggle for some historical buildings in St. Petersburg. In particular, a criminal case on abuse of power by KGIOP officials was initiated after its reaction to the June letter from St. Petersburg city defenders. On August 22, searches were carried out in the committee (see “Kommersant” dated August 22).

In addition, earlier, Mr. Bastrykin instructed to organize an audit on the complaints of St. Petersburg residents about the so-called law on renovation, according to which it is planned to evict Khrushchev residents from their homes to any area. Residents regularly gather in their districts and express dissatisfaction with the adopted law.

Oleg Dilimbetov, St. Petersburg