“Any sane person would ask for the money back, but there is not a single statement (from the victims in the case),” said the lawyers of the head of the department of the Almetyevsk executive committee, Damir Khabibullin, at the court hearing. The official, who has been in a pre-trial detention center since May 18, appealed this decision. Its defenders explained: the money was transferred to the card even before mobilization, which means that this cannot be explained by the reason for the “collection at the SVO”. About what else the defenders pressed on and how Khabibullin himself is doing in the pre-trial detention center – in the material “BUSINESS Online”.
Almetyevsk official appealed against his arrest
Almetyevsk official Damir Khabibullin had to wait several hours for his complaint to be considered: only after lunch did the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan get in touch with SIZO-3 in Bugulma, where Khabibullin has been staying since May 18. The 37-year-old head of the department of trade and consumer services of the executive committee of Almetyevsk appeared on the screen in a black T-shirt, showing muscles, in sweatpants and sneakers. Before the start of the meeting, he either got up or sat down on the bench, visibly nervous, then folded his arms across his chest.
Khabibullin was detained on May 16. Criminal cases were initiated against him under articles on fraud using official position (part 3 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and abuse of power (part 1 of article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to investigators, Khabibullin asked local entrepreneurs for money, allegedly for the needs of the NVO fighters. However, the funds did not reach the soldiers, he allegedly appropriated them for himself. At the same time, the investigation is sure that the money was transferred to him on his own personal card. The crime was revealed after the immediate boss of Khabibullin, the deputy head of the executive committee of the Almetyevsk region for economics, Andrey Podovalov, was under investigation. He was accused of taking a bribe of 4.8 million rubles. Then the FSB operatives and employees of the TFR department for Almetyevsk noticed strange transfers to Khabibullin. On May 18, the investigation appealed to the Almetyevsk court with a demand to send the official to a pre-trial detention center, the court agreed with this. But Khabibullin himself did not agree.
In the Supreme Court of Tatarstan, the interests of the official were represented by two lawyers – in addition to Ildar Abdullaev, Ruslan Ashrafullin joined the defense of Khabibullin. Even before the start of the meeting, they carefully studied the documents, of which there was a whole pile, and every now and then found in them new arguments for the court.
The judge established the identity of Khabibullin, after which she reported the circumstances of the case and the arguments of the lawyer’s complaints. And then she gave the floor to the defenders themselves.
Defense about raising money ostensibly for the CBO: “It’s an invented motive!”
Ashrafullin’s lawyer said that the motive referred to by the investigation – that Khabibullin collected money allegedly for the SVO – is not true. The defender emphasized that, according to the materials of the investigation, money was received on Khabibullin’s card in May, August and early October 2022.
“Yes, indeed, our SVO began on February 24, 2022. At the same time, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation of September 21, 2022, partial mobilization was announced. And those periods of time that are imputed to Khabibullin were precisely before the announcement of partial mobilization. That is, the arguments cited by the victims (that they sent the money) allegedly for the SVO, are untenable and have no basis in confirmation. This is an invented motive – either from the preliminary investigation, or from the operational services. This is a complete violation! the lawyer said. At the same time, the investigation previously stated that Khabibullin allegedly collected money to help the SVO even before mobilization – to help the fighters – natives of the region.
“For the needs of the SVO, collections were made after the announcement of partial mobilization, I don’t remember that it was before that time,” the defender explained his thesis to a BUSINESS Online correspondent. – All fees were after partial mobilization, when they began to look for bulletproof vests and so on. The first dispatch of those mobilized from Tatarstan took place on October 27, 2022. And all these events (in the Khabibullin case) were before these moments. Until that time, there were not even any initiative groups to raise funds for the NWO.”
Lawyer Abdullayev, in an interview with a correspondent, suggested that the wording of the investigation about “raising money for the needs of the SVO” was used solely to give resonance to the case. “Today, he categorically disagrees with what he is accused of, “for the needs of the SVO,” he conveyed the position of his client.
Lawyers also spoke about other, in their opinion, inconsistencies. So, according to Ashrafullin, in the materials of the investigation, which it submitted to the court, there is not a single document indicating that there are victims in the case. That is, there are no statements from them, or other documents that would say that they were recognized as victims. Although a case should be initiated precisely on such statements. Instead, it contains some “reports” – as the defense believes, from operational services.
Moreover, according to the lawyer, two of the three victims in the criminal case are “inappropriate” because they acted on “instructions from their close comrade.”
“The three victims are in good and family relations,” Abdullayev told BUSINESS Online. According to him, Khabibullin knew only one of them, and they had been talking for more than 10 years, and had no relationship with the other two at all. “Any sane person would ask for the money back, but there is not a single statement (from the victims in the case),” Abdullayev said. In the case, we note, there are transfers of 10-20 thousand rubles. Lawyer Ashrafullin, in a conversation with a correspondent, did not rule out that pressure could be exerted on the victims.
“He is a former police officer, worked at the BEP, and retired in 2011. With experience and knowledge, is it really possible to be so short-sighted, mislead a person and ask to transfer funds to your own card? – said the lawyer Abdullayev in an interview with a correspondent of BUSINESS Online.
According to the lawyer, one of the reasons for initiating a case against Khabibullin was “materials isolated from the criminal case against Podovalov.” “There is some kind of double standard: Podovalov is given a preventive measure in the form of house arrest, although he is accused of a particularly serious crime, and the most severe preventive measure is chosen for the middle manager of the executive committee. Some kind of inconsistency, ”Ashrafullin noted.
He also noted that Khabibullin has three children, the youngest is not yet a year old, and his wife is on maternity leave; at the place of work, he is characterized “exclusively positively.”
Lawyer Abdullayev, in turn, noted “copy-paste” in the court decision from the materials of the investigation. He also emphasized that there are only three grounds for detention: if the defendant puts pressure on witnesses, if he tries to hide from the investigation and continues to engage in criminal activity. In the case of Khabibullin, none of this happened, the lawyer emphasized, and the investigation only suggests that all this can happen. Moreover, Abdullayev emphasized, since March 23, Khabibullin was interrogated in the Podovalov case – and he regularly went to interrogations, did not run anywhere.
Lawyers to Khabibullin: “Hold on!”
Khabibullin himself was laconic. “I completely agree with my defenders, I have nothing to add!” he said, rising from the wooden bench. It seems that today he participated in a meeting on the videoconferencing to see people he knew. “Sun, hello, hold on!” – he said to the girl, located on the first bench, when the judge went to the “conference room”. She did not talk to the BUSINESS Online correspondent.
— Hallar nichek? – asked the lawyer Abdullaev Khabibullin.
– OK-OK! – Carelessly, honestly answered the one from the cell. True, to the wish “Hold on!” answered with silence.
And he really needs words of support. The judge, returning from the deliberation room, ruled that the decision should be left unchanged. Thus, Khabibullin will stay in the pre-trial detention center until at least July 16. Lawyers, however, do not intend to stop – they want to appeal this decision in the cassation.
