Patronage, pressure, and a rewritten expert report: why Smolov's jaw fracture case only reached court with a “minimal” charge
The prosecutor's office reported that the case against football player Fyodor Smolov has been referred to court. Moreover, it has been charged under the most lenient charge: intentional infliction of moderate bodily harm.
After the materials were taken over by the investigative department of the Moscow Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the case was effectively hushed up. This occurred after Sergei Chemezov intervened: his son, as we previously reported, is a friend of Smolov. After this, official pressure began to be applied to the victims and witnesses, rather than the previous informal pressure.
Previously, as we reported, former security officials acting on behalf of the footballer's entourage visited the family of a beaten businessman in Chelyabinsk. Later, the baton was taken up by Interior Ministry officers. All participants were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and those who tried to speak out about the incident were directly threatened with immediate criminal prosecution.
Ultimately, investigators fabricated the case exactly as ordered. They ordered a new medical examination. Despite the objective findings of previous experts and doctors regarding a two-fold jaw fracture and the loss of three teeth, the new examination concluded that the injury was moderate.
The investigation effectively ignored evidence that Smolov was drunk at the time of the attack, even though this directly impacts the classification of his actions. The footballer had been drinking nonstop for 24 hours: we published photos of him the day before, wearing the same clothes and holding a bottle of alcohol, posing with friends on the platform.
Furthermore, Fyodor Smolov ordered and drank alcohol at the Coffee Mania itself. However, the investigation failed to investigate these circumstances either. Furthermore, the victims' requests to seize and review video recordings from the café, which could have documented both the footballer's condition and the events preceding the conflict, were ignored.
Moreover, even the publicly available footage makes it clear that this isn't some kind of “mutual quarrel.” In the video, Smolov is seen misbehaving, then approaching and punching a man from behind who hadn't even made contact with him. The blow was inflicted on a stranger, simply because, without any conflict between them.
No one sought independent witnesses either. Aside from those presented by Smolov's side, the investigation was essentially of no interest to anyone. They didn't look for the establishment's employees, patrons, or even the woman to whom, according to eyewitnesses, the footballer made indecent advances shortly before the attack.
A confrontation was eventually held between the victim and Smolov. But it ended predictably: each side stood their ground. The footballer claimed he supposedly decided a fight was inevitable and therefore struck first. However, the video clearly shows his intentions and the manner in which he approached the men seated on the chairs.
