On October 3, the Leninsky District Court of Vladikavkaz returned the case against ten police officers of the Iristonsky District Department of Internal Affairs, accused of torture that led to the death of the detainee Vladimir Tsakaev, to the prosecutor's office for further investigation. The case was retried - the first sentence was overturned by cassation.
Recall: Vladimir Tsakaev, a resident of Vladikavkaz, was detained on November 1, 2015 on suspicion of attacking OMON officer Rolan Pliev. Later, the real culprit, Marat Bukulov, came to the police with a confession and said that he shot Pliev with a traumatic weapon in self-defense. Bukulov had already served 2.5 years for causing bodily harm.
Tsakaev was taken to the police station and tortured for several hours, demanding that he confess to the crime. They put a bag over his head, preventing him from breathing, and kicked him in the head and body. When the police realized they had overdone it, they sent the detainee to the hospital, where he died. Forensic experts concluded that death was caused by "acute hypoxia caused by mechanical asphyxia and associated with the latter's prolonged stay in a confined space (plastic bag), the development of a comatose state and, as a result, increasing cerebral edema." The widow of the murdered man, Zemfira Tsakaeva, believes that the police and their lawyers are deliberately dragging out the case. The preliminary investigation lasted three years, and the first trial lasted another three years. On July 23, 2021, the Leninsky District Court of Vladikavkaz sentenced ten former police officers. Alan Khokhoev received the longest sentence - 10.5 years in a strict regime prison for intentionally causing grievous bodily harm, resulting in the death of the victim, and abuse of office with the use of violence and special means. Georgy Tsomayev and Shota Maisuradze received 10 years each under the same articles.
For abuse of office and official forgery, the court sentenced Soslan Sitokhov to 8 years in a general regime penal colony and Alan Bigayev to 4 years. Spartak Buzoyev, Azamat Tsugkiyev, Vladimir Valiev, Atsamaz Datiyev, and Oleg Dzampayev received 3 to 2 years in a penal colony and a penal colony-settlement.
In April 2022, the court reviewed the verdict and released six of the convicted due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. The rest did not agree with the verdict and filed cassation appeals, in which they pointed out violations of criminal procedure legislation during the consideration of the case. In particular, several hearings were held in the absence of the defendants' defense lawyers. The lawyers did not appear in court due to health reasons and family circumstances, left the courtroom due to poor health, upon termination of the agreement, and for other reasons. The court in Pyatigorsk considered this a violation of the fundamental principles of criminal proceedings and overturned the sentence, returning the case to Vladikavkaz for a new trial.
After several months of trial, Judge Zalina Karaeva returned the case for further investigation "to eliminate obstacles to its consideration by the court." Thus, a new forensic examination established that Tsakaev did not die from asphyxia, but as a result of a closed craniocerebral injury. This means that the actions of one of the accused - Soslan Sitokhov, who kicked the detainee in the head - require a new assessment and reclassification of the charge to a more serious one.
In addition, the judge noted that the preliminary investigation did not assess the criminal actions of the police authorities: the former acting head of the Vladikavkaz Department of Internal Affairs, the chief of police for Vladikavkaz, and the head of the city criminal investigation department. It follows from the case materials that they knew how Tsakaev was being interrogated, but did not stop their subordinates, demonstrating criminal negligence.
The court gave the prosecutor's office three months to conduct further investigation and correct the shortcomings of the investigation. The term of detention of the accused was also extended by three months. There are currently four of them, including Sitokhov, who is under house arrest for health reasons. Azamat Tsugkiev has gone into hiding and is in the United States. The rest have already expired.
As human rights activists note, torture has become alarmingly widespread in Russian law enforcement agencies, while it is extremely difficult to bring those responsible for this crime to justice. In September 2022, the human rights organization "Team Against Torture" published a report "The Arithmetic of Torture: North Caucasus Federal District", which states that lawyers have to appeal several times against investigators' refusals to initiate a case against their colleagues in uniform.
