That day Alexander Anoshin got paid. Like every month, it came with the factory friends to drink something stronger. In the evening all came from institutions into the street, swaying slowly and noisily went home. Alexander wandered some more than others.
When they are on the way came across a police patrol, the police decided to detain anoshina. Friends protested, promised that he would deliver him safely home to his wife and children, but the police were adamant.
Anoshina was put in a cell. He woke up and realized that is behind bars, and panic scared. He tossed the grate and shouted, “Because I had a drink and didn’t do anything wrong…”
The police got angry. They several times told him to shut up, but he continued to shout. One of the officers entered the cell and used a fairly common method: he pushed the detainee against the wall, pushing him with a baton to the throat.
In this position, the carotid artery is a lot of pressure, so the person starts to lose consciousness. At this time police have pressed very strongly. Alexander Anoshin opened his eyes, opened his mouth, and then his heart stopped. The policeman was dumbfounded.
His colleagues panicked. Someone had the idea to stage a suicide. They made cloth loop, threw the victim on the neck and hung anoshina right in the camera. If this opportunity is not interested in Igor Kalyapin and his famous not only in Russia, “the Committee for the prevention of torture,” probably no one would have guessed that Alexander Anoshin hanged himself.
“We put that COP in jail for 12 years” — said with undisguised pride in his voice, Igor Kalyapin, who received for his persistent struggle against police and judicial tyranny of the Homo Homini prize of the organization “People in need”.
“It took us five and a half years, but we managed to prove that it was not suicide! And it happened not in Strasbourg, but in our Nizhny Novgorod”.
Petra procházková: You had a reputation of being a formidable hunter on the police. They are afraid of you?
Igor Kalyapin: the Last 20 years of my life I, along with his team devoted to the impunity of the police was not an absolute constant. 20 years ago a policeman who tortured someone, knew with absolute certainty that nothing for him it will not. And he was right. But now annually throughout the Russian Federation behind bars turns out to be about a hundred policemen. For such a large country a little bit, but it is progress.
— Whether the Russian courts really, as they say, the interests of the Kremlin, taking decisions according to the desire of the political elite, and not in accordance with the law?
— It happens, but not as often as in the Soviet Union. Worst of all, when bringing special services. Since the 90-ies, when there was a wild privatization of everything and the judges were popular and corrupt referees, the security services have accumulated dirt on all of them. So sometimes it happens that the judge comes a man in civilian clothes and said: “Six years ago you were doing such a thing. And now look: we have a photograph, how you get paid. Is that you in the photo? Do you want to sit? If not, then in such a case you will make the decision that we need.” What the judge do? This constant influence of special services is our huge problem.
— Do you and political Affairs?
— Surprisingly, politically motivated cases as a rule, do not involve torture. There is another problem. No normal Russian judge will deliver a verdict in favor of the person who is judged for political reasons. But we don’t care who are drawn to us: political or criminals. It is important, whether the person is tortured or not.
— Do you cooperate with the democratic opposition, which draws attention to a number of political processes?
— The Russian opposition is not my area, although previously I was an activist of the Democratic Union. Opposition leaders live in their own world, wanting to stay closed group, sect. Most of all they fear the competition in their own ranks, and they are only interested in their supporters. Everything that happens outside of their microcosm, they are there. For the ordinary provincial, subjected to torture, they are on the street will not. They are willing to help in human rights cases if it will make them and will earn political points. But to do something just like that? They don’t wait.
— Do you conduct some statistics, showing how large the problem of torture in Russia?
— One in five, 21% of people, says that at least once in his life faced with unlawful violence by the law enforcement.
— Have you ever in your practice courageous judges who went against the system?
— I met not only judges, but also investigators and the police. I recently could not pay tribute to the absolute heroism of the Chechen judges Wahida abubakarova. In 2015, he judged the young man, who was suspected of murdering a Chechen police officer and terrorism. One evidence was the confession. But on the court, something unexpected happened: the accused said that he did not commit, and recognition was written under terrible torture. He had deep wounds on his hands. He said that it was burning with electricity. In open wounds became infected, they got infected. The judge began to understand. He even called on a meeting of the medical sister, who examined the defendant. Another judge did not even pay attention to such statements of the defendant, and Abubakarov tried to check.
And this is heroism?
— In Chechnya, Yes. This judge risked his life.
— What ended the work of man, apparently, wrongly accused of terrorism?
— In Chechnya, nothing can end well. In the end, another judge condemned the guy. But it is important that all members of history alive. It’s a miracle. Because a similar situation in Chechnya, are usually solved by the same scheme: Kadyrov, Putin calls, and within an hour problem solved. Though we received from “someone in trouble” prize for courage, but is actually much braver than we are any people from Chechnya, who dared to contact us. And there are fewer. A year ago we had 300 cases in Chechnya, now only three.
— The shelter, which the Kremlin has Kadyrov, a tribute for the fact that Chechnya remains calm part of the Russian Federation?
— So. Putin is sincerely convinced that the laws can be ignored if necessary to achieve the goal, to solve the problem. He always resolves the issues in the interests of order, but to bypass the laws. This is the essence of his reign. The President has already belongs to the category of people who are not able to perceive the world around us. He just can’t. Any word, any minute of his time is managed. The entire flow of information coming to Putin, filtered.
You personally anyone pressured?
I only threw eggs. But my colleagues, including Swedish and Norwegian journalists, was beaten so much that they hardly recovered. Fractures, stretcher — the attack was pretty violent. Thank God that nobody was killed. Perhaps this pressure will not name.
— Discouraged you from working in Chechnya?
— No. Last week, we were sent to jail 129th police for our 12-year career. And we manage more and more. Last year was most “fruitful”. But we are not going to stop there.
Award from the Czech organization “People in need”, probably you will not help much at home…
In the interest of combating torture, we could pretend to be ardent patriots, singing Patriotic songs and waving Russian flags. But in 17 years we are not allowed to buy it. So think about what will help us the Homo Homini award in Russia and harm, it makes no sense. What people think about this in the Kremlin, I don’t care, and doesn’t offend me, if there is it will not bring joy.
