The Supreme Court of Tatarstan put an end to the case of Ilnaz Galyaviev, a former student of Kazan gymnasium No. 175. In May 2021, a young man came to an educational institution and massacred students and teachers. He killed nine people and caused serious bodily harm. The court appointed him the most severe punishment in the Russian Criminal Code – life imprisonment. The defendant’s lawyer told Business FM that he would decide on the possibility of appealing the verdict after consulting with his client.
Under the new rules, Judge Airat Minnullin announced only the introductory and operative parts of the verdict. Almost immediately, it became clear that Galyaviev could not escape the punishment that prosecutor Ildus Nafikov had earlier requested for him in the debate of the parties – a life sentence.
His court could appoint Galyavieva only under the article on the murder of two persons, including a minor, in a generally dangerous way out of hooligan motives (clauses “a”, “c”, “e”, “and” part 2 of article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ). However, in addition to this, Galyaviev was found guilty of manufacturing explosives and explosive devices (part 1 of article 223.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), of their illegal transportation (part 1 of article 222.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and of deliberate destruction or damage to property (part 1 of article 223.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) 2 article 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
“As an additional punishment, the court imposed a fine of 200,000 rubles on Galyaviev,” the press service of the court told Business FM. They said that the claims of the victims (a total of 667 people were recognized by them, of which 143 suffered serious bodily harm) for a total amount of 48 million rubles, the court partially satisfied. According to a court decision, Galyaviev must pay a total of 22 million rubles to ten victims.
“Five victims will receive 3 million rubles each, one will be paid 2 million rubles, the court awarded compensation of 1.5 million rubles each to three, and 500 thousand rubles to one,” the court representative said.
The Supreme Court of Tatarstan began to consider the high-profile case on November 9, 2022. The tragedy that brought Ilnaz Galyaviev to the dock occurred on May 11, 2021 at about 9:30 am. At that time, 19-year-old Galyaviev, a graduate of gymnasium No. 175 in Kazan, came to the educational institution with a gun and a homemade grenade. He blew up the front door and began shooting students and teachers. As a result, nine people, including seven children, died and many were injured.
20 minutes before the tragedy, Galyaviev started a telegram channel. He declared himself a god, took a picture in a mask with the appropriate inscription and said that he was going to school to kill. Shortly before the incident, the young man was expelled from the fourth year of the college of the Tatar Institute for Business Assistance, where he studied as an IT specialist, due to poor progress. After Galyaviev was detained, a large number of cartridges and parts for making an explosive device were found in his apartment. The investigation concluded that the cause of the tragedy was “Galyaviev’s desire to imitate the actions of informal representatives of one of the destructive subcultures, information about which he learned from the Internet, copying their behavior during the attack.”
On May 12, 2021, the young man was imprisoned in a pre-trial detention center. He could avoid criminal liability. The fact is that two psychological and psychiatric examinations were carried out in the case. They came to exactly the opposite conclusion. The first examination, conducted at the Serbsky Institute, recognized Galyaviev as insane and stated that he had paranoid schizophrenia. In this case, the court was obliged to send him to compulsory treatment. However, the investigation appointed a second examination in St. Petersburg, which concluded that Galyaviyev could be aware of the actual nature and public danger of his actions. According to doctors, the young man has a schizoid personality disorder, but he is sane.
Ruslan Nuriakhmetov, the court-appointed lawyer for the defendant, asked the court to take into account the initial investigation and send Galyaviev for compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital. In this case, after a few years, he could go free.
Galyaviev himself demonstrated clarity of mind in court. In the debate of the parties, he asked not to assign him a life sentence with the first five years in prison, as requested by the prosecutor. “Then it did not make sense to meet the investigation. I apologize to the victims,” he said at a meeting of the Supreme Court of Tatarstan.
After the verdict was announced, his lawyer refused to answer Business FM’s questions, in particular, how adequate was Galyaviev’s behavior during the process. When asked whether the defense would appeal against the court’s verdict, Ruslan Nuriakhmetov answered as follows: “We will discuss with him, then we will make a decision.” The defender refrained from other comments, saying that he did not comment on the case.
By law, an appeal may be filed within 15 days with the Fourth Court of Appeal in Nizhny Novgorod.
If the sentence survives, Galyaviev will be sent to serve his term in one of the eight colonies for those sentenced to life. He will be able to apply for parole after serving 25 years.