The suspect in the arson of the letter Z was taken into custody

In Belgorod, a resident of the Kaliningrad region, who is suspected of setting fire to an installation in the shape of the letter Z, was taken into custody until November 19. He is charged with vandalism motivated by political hatred. As the defense notes, the basis for choosing a harsh preventive measure was the explosives seized from the man’s place of residence in Belgorod. The accused claims that during his arrest he was tortured, and the objects found on him were planted.

On September 29, the Sverdlovsk District Court of Belgorod sent 28-year-old resident of the Kaliningrad region Ilya Chubukov to a pre-trial detention center for 1 month and 29 days. The man was detained last week. The investigation believes that on the night of September 18, he set fire to an installation in the shape of the letter Z, installed near Vatutina Avenue. In the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Belgorod region claimthat the identity of the alleged arsonist was established as a result of operational search activities together with employees of the regional FSB Directorate.

The department stated that in the dormitory room in Belgorod, which the man rented, investigators found objects structurally similar to the RGD-5 grenade and a TNT block. They were removed and sent for examination.

The police opened a criminal case against the detainee for vandalism based on political hatred (Part 2 of Article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, maximum punishment – three years in prison). The Ministry of Internal Affairs added that department employees are establishing all the circumstances of the crime and checking the involvement of the detainee in committing other crimes in the region.

The suspect’s defense in court opposed his detention. “Basically, no one is arrested under this article,” lawyer Evgenia Suslova told Kommersant. “Under Art. 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the investigator chose a preventive measure in the form of an obligation to appear. The basis for going to court was grave Art. 222.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (article on the illegal acquisition and storage of explosives, providing for up to eight years in prison.— “Kommersant”). The question was about this article, that is, about those things that, in his opinion, were planted on him.”

The suspect told the lawyer that before the searches, he was detained for several hours by men dressed in civilian clothes. They beat him and, handcuffing him, put objects that looked like a hand grenade and a TNT block into his hands.

In court, the lawyer asked that photographs showing the detainee’s injuries be included in the materials on the selection of the preventive measure. They show abrasions and bruises on his head, arms and back and traces of the use of a stun gun. She also proposed to take into account the response of the Ministry of Defense to a deputy’s request that the letter Z has no special meaning and is not an official military symbol. “The court granted all the requests and did not refuse anything. But he decided to take him into custody,” Evgenia Suslova explained to Kommersant. She noted that she had already filed several complaints in the case.

Ilya Chubukov himself said at the court hearing that the police officers, after his arrest, offered him to plead guilty to vandalism for political reasons. He did not give the required testimony. “In the temporary detention center they did not use force against him, but they held conversations about admitting guilt,” the lawyer added. The decision to select a preventive measure has not yet been appealed.

Sergey Tolmachev, Voronezh