The Moscow City Court refused to transfer under house arrest the former deputy head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Andrei Gurovich, who is accused of abuse of office (part 3 of article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) during the construction of a covid hospital in the Murmansk region. The defense of the defendant, who has been in custody for almost a year, announced the manipulations of the investigation, claiming that it artificially creates conditions for him in captivity. Gurovich himself spoke about the moral and psychological pressure and “threats” of the security forces in the pre-trial detention center.
During the hearing in the Moscow City Court, the defendant’s lawyers tried to overturn the decision of the Basmanny Court of the capital, which on June 8, at the request of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, extended Gurovich’s detention until July 11.
Then, as lawyers Aleksey Tikhomirov and Tatyana Stas argued, the court took on faith the arguments of the investigation that, while at large, the accused could hide, and also put pressure on witnesses, or continue to engage in criminal activity. All these arguments, which the investigation repeats “like a mantra”, are “presumptive” and are not supported by anything, the lawyers said.
Aleksey Tikhomirov called the measure of restraint chosen for his client “not only excessively repressive, but also excessively excessive”, noting that the former minister has been in jail for a year already.
Examination completed six months ago
His colleague Tatyana Stas tried to catch her opponents in lies. She said that, insisting on the further stay of the accused in the pre-trial detention center, the investigator indicated that it was not possible to complete the investigation of the case in a timely manner, while he needed additional time, in particular, in order to obtain and acquaint the accused and lawyers with the conclusions of those appointed in the case. expertise, including construction and technical.
At the same time, the investigation attached a protocol announcing the end of the investigation to the case file. As for the above-mentioned examination, the lawyers were acquainted with it on the eve of the trial, on June 7. It followed from the document that the examination was started on October 20, and completed a month later, on December 26, 2022. “How does is called?” the lawyer was outraged. Tatyana Stas noted that in his written petition and in court, the investigator “misled everyone”, as he cited grounds in favor of extending Gurovich’s arrest, which had already disappeared.
She stressed that whatever the results of the examination, they do not matter, because her client “did not supervise the construction and did not sign any documents.”
“Did he kill someone? Did you go over to the side of the enemy? He, according to the investigation, did not exercise proper control, ”said the lawyer, saying that in her decision, the judge of the Basmanny Court, Valentina Levashova, simply rewrote the arguments of the investigation. The lawyers asked to cancel the judicial act, to choose a milder measure of restraint for their client, for example, house arrest.
Unused hospital
Andrey Gurovich, 49, was detained on July 13, 2022. The next day, he was charged with “abuse of official authority, entailing grave consequences” (part 3 of article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), under which he faces up to 10 years in prison. He was arrested. Currently, he is in the capital’s pre-trial detention center No. 4 (“Bear”).
The charge brought by the ex-deputy minister is related to the construction in May-June 2020 of a prefabricated field hospital for the treatment of patients with coronavirus, for which more than 969 million rubles were allocated from the federal budget. A building for 700 people was to be built in the village of Belokamenka, Kola district, Murmansk region. However, in the end it was erected 50 km from the original place – in the village of Murmashi. At the same time, the facility was built without “taking into account the climatic conditions of the region.”
“Reliably knowing about these circumstances, Gurovich, who was entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring the spending of the allocated budgetary funds, realizing that the goals of deploying the hospital were not achieved, did not take measures for the effective use of budgetary funds, as a result of which the budget of the Murmansk region was damaged by the amount of more than 323 million rubles, ”stated the UK.
The hospital, which did not accept a single patient, was dismantled in December 2020, and the equipment was distributed among other hospitals.
Powers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations
In court, Gurovich, who denies guilt, dwelled on the plot of the prosecution, according to which he did not exercise “proper control”. “Only for whom? Control over the Murmansk region? I beg your pardon, how can you control the UKS (Department of capital construction) of the Murmansk region? asked the accused.
He dismissed the arguments of the investigation that his actions led to “improper spending of budgetary funds.” “Today there is no such concept either in the criminal or in the budget code,” the defendant said. “If you study the etymology of this word, it means that there was no right to spend budget funds. But how could it not? Gurovich was surprised. He stressed that the construction of the hospital was carried out on the basis of instructions from the President, who ordered to provide funding for the construction of a covid hospital in the Murmansk region. In addition, there was an order of the Russian government on the allocation of subsidies to the region. “There was a right, and not just a right, but a duty. Could the Ministry of Emergency Situations not transfer money to the government of the Murmansk region? The answer is no. Since this follows from the administrative documents, ”the arrested person said, explaining that the money was received from the reserve fund of the Russian government.
According to the person involved, the Ministry of Emergency Situations simply could not “stop” the payment that the Capital Construction Department of the Murmansk Region transferred to its general contractor (they were the company General Contractor-Transstroy LLC. – Business FM). “Today, the Ministry of Emergency Situations does not have such powers that could block payments,” he said.
“Effective” measure
Turning to the decision of the Basmanny Court, Gurovich called “phenomenal” his conclusion that any other measure of restraint, not related to isolation from society, cannot be “effective” in his case.
“Of course, it cannot be effective, because being in a pre-trial detention center makes it easier to put moral and psychological pressure on me,” the arrested man said. – Being in a pre-trial detention center, it is easier to put pressure on my family members, come here and threaten me from certain officials. You can send me to a punishment cell or put me in a cell with drug addicts.” Gurovich said that now a man is sitting in the cell with him, who is accused of preparing a terrorist attack.
Summing up his speech, the former deputy minister lamented that, despite the fact that he has three state awards (Gurovich was awarded the medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree, the Order of Honor and the Order of Pirogov), the courts always forget to mention them or “intentionally (about them) are silent.
In turn, investigator Alexei Makerov was brief. Without going into arguments, he asked the Moscow City Court to leave the decision of the Basmanny Court unchanged, and the complaint of the defense – without satisfaction.
He was supported by prosecutor Anna Potychko, saying that, in her opinion, the district court “did not allow violations of the law that entailed the unconditional cancellation of the decision,” and red tape was not established during the investigation of the case. As a result, Judge Natalya Borisova upheld the decision. The defenders promised to appeal against it in the cassation.
