There is no way out of the special school – Kommersant

On May 17, a Yekaterinburg court refused to transfer a 13-year-old boy from special school No. 124 to another educational institution. A teenager is a victim in a high-profile case of sexual abuse by other students. According to lawyers, this situation threatens the life and psychological state of the boy.

In April, a 15-year-old teenager escaped from special school No. 124. He said that a group of students subjected other pupils to physical and sexual violence.

According to the boy, one of the educators taught the children “Zon concepts” and allegedly initiated “comrades’ courts” at which it was collectively decided how to “punish” the guilty.

After that was initiated a criminal case on violent acts of a sexual nature (clause “b” part 4 of article 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), two students were charged. Lawyer Georgy Krasnov, representing the interests of the runaway teenager, told Kommersant that the director of the special school, Natalya Poddubnaya, knew about the bullying, but did not take action – on the contrary, she humiliated the victims.

There are several victims in the case, including a 13-year-old boy. He was sent to a special school in March 2022 for three years. After the case was opened, the teenager was returned home, but according to the law, he cannot stay there until 2025.

“Legally, the boy must return to a special school,” Olesya Bortnikova, the child’s lawyer, explained to Kommersant. “But it is not in the interests of the child to return him to this environment, where the same persons who were present at the commission of the crime are located. No one can ensure his physical and psychological well-being there. The situation can only be aggravated. If we return him there, and he does something to himself, who will be responsible for this? The most correct decision would be to leave the boy with the legal representative, with the mother.

On Wednesday, the Chkalovsky District Court of Yekaterinburg considered the claim of the leadership of special school No. 124 to transfer the child to a similar educational institution in another city. According to Ms. Bortnikova, this was opposed by representatives of the ICR and the prosecutor’s office.

As a result, the court dismissed the claim and did not consider the counterclaim of the defense for the early termination of the boy’s stay in the special school.

And about. The director of special school No. 124, Alexander Rukavishnikov, refused to comment to Kommersant on the phone why the school was trying to get the child transferred to another institution, asking him to send a written request. Portal 66.ru Mr. Rukavishnikov stated that the lawsuit was caused “exclusively by the interests of the teenager.” It should be noted, according to local media reports, the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Sverdlovsk Region, Igor Morokov, asked the Chkalovsky District Court to leave the injured child in a special school so that he would be “created the necessary conditions” there. Kommersant-Ural failed to get a comment from the children’s ombudsman – he did not answer calls.

Now the boy’s representatives are planning to file a second lawsuit for the early termination of his stay in the special school. Olesya Bortnikova said that filed an appeal to the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Russian Federation Maria Lvova-Belova. The press service of the Investigative Committee for the Sverdlovsk region, Kommersant-Ural, refused to comment on any information related to the investigation of the situation in special school No. 124.

Note that the director of the special school, Natalya Poddubnaya, resigned of her own free will. Later, a criminal case of negligence was initiated against her (part 1 of article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The lawyer noted that the case could be reclassified to part 2, which provides for imprisonment, if it is proved that the victim suffered serious harm as a result of bullying.

Ilya Smirnov, Yekaterinburg