Court Orders Further Investigation on Russian Accused of Torture
Investigators will now check whether the accused is deceased, a prisoner of war or a fugitive.
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Tuesday, 26 March ‘24
This week’s overview of key events and links to essential reading.
Court Orders Further Investigation on Russian Accused of Torture
Investigators will now check whether the accused is deceased, a prisoner of war or a fugitive.
Ukraine’s security service (SBU) has been asked to conduct a further investigation in the case against a Russian soldier accused of the brutal treatment of the civilian population during the occupation of Makiivka in March 2022.
On March 12, the Pavlograd city and district court of the Dnipropetrovsk region instructed investigators to check whether Olkhazur Yusupov was a prisoner of war or on the list of dead Russian servicemen. It also asked for the SBU to try to establish additional contact online with either him or hisfamily.
Makiivka, which is located onthe border of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, was among the first to be occupied by the Russian forces at the start of the full-scale invasion in late February 2022. Ukraine’s army regained the control over it after eight months, on November 13, 2022. About 100 people remianed out of a pre-war population of 819. A video released by the ministry of defence of Ukraine showed that there was not a single undamaged building in the settlement, which is now right on the line of combat.
According to the investigation, 49-year-old Yusupov, who hails from Herzel, a village in the Gudermes district of Russia’s Republic of Chechnyawas, was in Makiivka as of March 3, 2022.
On the morning of April 12, the accused – who also went by the nickname Lobzyk - together with seven armed soldiers who followed his orders, broke into the home of a 59-year-old woman. The groups took gold jewellery, mobile phones and household appliances worth approximately 2,880 US dollars.
After examining the woman's computer, Yusupov accused her of sabotage and cooperation with Ukraine’s SBU, he reportedly blindfolded her with a jacket and forced her into a car. The victim was brought to the local gymnasium and taken to the principal's office. There, she was beaten a metal and plastic pipe on her arms, legs and back. Her torturers demanded she provide information about the location of Ukrainian flags which she had allegedly taken from the gymnasium and hid. The investigation found that Yusupov was present during the torture and gave orders to other Russian military personnel.
The woman was subsequently taken out of the director's office and handcuffed to the heating system. In the evening of the same day, the accused again ordered the victim, to give him information about the activities of the local residents by April 14 before sending her home.
Yusupov was informed in absentia of the suspicion in January 2023 and declared wanted. In May 2023 the court gave permission to proceed with a special pre-trial investigation in absentia and in November the case was sent to court.
According to the official register, on March 12 the prosecutor requested a special trial in absentia since Yusupov had failed to appear in court following the summoning. He noted that the prosecution did not have any additional information about the accused’s whereabouts or status, including captivity, injury or death. At the time of the pre-trial investigation the suspect was located in the occupied territory of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic.
Similarly, the defence attorney, assigned by the court through the state legal aid system, stated he had no communication with the accused or his family and was unaware of his whereabouts.
The court stated that to proceed with the trial additional information was needed, in particular whether the accused is sufficiently informed about the criminal charges against him and the ongoing court case. It thus decided to instruct the pre-trial investigation body to conduct further searches fornthe accused. Depending on the result the court will decide on the trial format.
“Information about the accused, his whereabouts and condition, possible contacts of the accused or his family members in social networks, messenges, e-mail data on the Internet, [all] are of essential importance for criminal proceedings,” the register reported the court as stating.
The court announced a break in the preparatory session and scheduled the court hearing for April 8, 2024.
