As it became known to Kommersant, the ICR has completed the investigation of the criminal case of the former rector of Kazan Federal University (KFU) Ilshat Gafurov, accused of inciting the murder of crime boss Aidar Israfilov (Aidaron) almost a quarter of a century ago. The scientist denies his guilt, and the defense notes that his criminal prosecution was illegal, since the decision of the prosecutor’s office, which recognized Mr. Gafurov as not involved in the same crime, was not canceled.
At a meeting of the Moscow City Court, a complaint by the defense of Ilshat Gafurov regarding the legality of his criminal prosecution for inciting, first, an unsuccessful attempt on the life of criminal authority Aidar Israfilov, and then his murder, which nevertheless took place in August 1999, was considered.
The problem turned out to be that in the 23 years that had passed since the murder, the possible involvement of the scientist in the crime was substantively studied by the predecessor of today’s TFR – the prosecutor’s office.
As representatives of the defendant’s defense explained to the court, in the 1990s, businessman Israfilov and the future rector of KFU Gafurov lived in Yelabuga and even, in a sense, jointly led the city.
Mr. Gafurov then held the official post of head of the city administration, and Mr. Israfilov was a deputy of the regional legislative assembly and at the same time headed the largest organized crime group in Yelabuga, the Aidaronovskie, which took control of almost the entire city business.
After Israfilov’s “authority” made a statement to the police that members of the rival group “29th complex” from the neighboring city of Naberezhnye Chelny wanted to kill him, the mayor of Yelabuga, Gafurov, became one of the witnesses in the case. Members of the investigation team led by Azat Ziyatdinov, head of the investigation department of the Naberezhnye Chelny prosecutor’s office, substantively interrogated both the victim about his relationship with the city authorities and Mayor Gafurov as a witness, asking him the same questions. Interestingly, the official head of the city and his shadow owner at the same time gave an interview to the local newspaper Novaya Kama, in which they said that there was a misunderstanding between them. The mayor, for example, believed that the “authority” who controls the local market underpays the city for the cost of renting land, and prostitution and drug trafficking flourish in the nightclub owned by Aidar Israfilov, but they did not reach an open conflict.
Taking into account the fact that the testimonies of the victim and the witness turned out to be generally similar, the head of the investigation team, Ziyatdinov, recognized Mayor Gafurov as not involved in the preparation of the assassination “due to the absence of any crime in his actions.” It is worth noting that this decision was issued in April 2002, when the killer hired by the leaders of the 29th complex still shot Aidaron on Leningradsky Prospekt in Moscow. Already after the murder of the “authority”, on behalf of the investigator Ziyatdinov, the witness Gafurov was re-interrogated in the framework of the second case, about the murder, and again he was not presented with any claims. The results of the investigation conducted by Azat Ziyatdinov were later recognized by the Supreme Court of Tatarstan, which sentenced the leader of the 29th complex, Adygan Salyakhov (Alik), and about three dozen other militants to long prison terms. His decision was approved by the Supreme Court of Russia, however, 23 years after the murder of Aidaron, the position of the investigation has fundamentally changed.
The Main Investigative Committee of the ICR came to the conclusion that the killers from Naberezhnye Chelny were incited to massacre the Yelabuga “authority” by the former mayor of the city of Gafurov, who by that time had taken the post of rector of the university.
According to the defense, the “newly discovered circumstances” could be the testimony of one of the leaders of the “29th complex” sentenced to life imprisonment, but, anyway, on December 21, 2021, the rector was detained after the annual ceremony “Student of the Year at KFU”, sent under escort to Moscow and arrested. The criminal investigation has now been completed. The scientist and his lawyers get acquainted with the materials collected by the investigation, and in parallel, in various law enforcement and judicial instances, the legality of the very fact of initiating a criminal case in the Main Investigative Committee of the ICR is being discussed.
The defense believes that the investigation should have first canceled the decision of the Naberezhnye Chelny prosecutor’s office that “acquitted” the rector, and since it did not, the criminal prosecution of Ilshat Gafurov, as well as his 14-month detention, is illegal. Last year, the decisions of the head of the investigation group of the Main Investigative Committee of the ICR were appealed to the leadership of the committee and to the Basmanny District Court of Moscow, and this year the level of the proceedings has risen to the Moscow City Court.
In the appellate instance, for example, the version of the Main Investigative Committee of the ICR was discussed that it was not even the head of the investigation team, Ziyatdinov, who could sign the “refusal” decision of the prosecutor’s office in April 2002 at all. The investigation appointed a handwriting examination of the resolution at the Forensic Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, they requested a sample of Mr. Ziyatdinov’s signature of the 2022 sample and, comparing it with the 2002 version, doubted the identity of the two samples. The defense, in turn, ordered an expert comparison of all the “old” signatures of Azat Ziyatdinov, preserved in the materials of the large-scale criminal case of the 29th complex, and independent experts recognized the authenticity of the decision. According to their findings, over the course of 20 years, the signature of any person could undergo significant changes, but within the framework of one criminal case, the investigator most likely signed the same way.
“In accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, criminal cases are initiated only if there are sufficient data indicating signs of a crime,” lawyer Olga Naryshkina noted. “If cases are initiated based on the words of prisoners who have decided to change their previous testimony, the rights and legitimate interests of many citizens.”
Ilshat Gafurov, who does not admit guilt, added that, as the mayor of Yelabuga, he really tried to call Aidar Israfilov to order, forcing him, for example, to comply with fire safety rules in controlled institutions and pay the cost of rent. However, their disputes with the businessman, according to him, could not become a reason for the assassination attempt.
“After all, with this approach, in any contract killing, the first suspect should be the tax inspector of the victim, who tried to collect arrears from her,” the accused explained.
Why the Moscow City Court did not accept the arguments of the defense will become clear from the reasoning part of the decision, which the parties have not yet received.