On Tuesday, the Federation Council held an expert session on unjustified arrests and the problem of keeping women in pre-trial detention.
Parliamentarians and public activists proposed to provide for punishment for inadequate actions of investigators in the conduct of criminal cases. They are convinced that this problem concerns thousands of Russian citizens. The participants in the discussion analyzed a specific example, which they consider significant. The case of Olga Mirimskaya will become an occasion for appeals to the leadership of the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor General’s Office.
During the round table, Senator Elena Afanasyeva noted that today 109,000 people are kept in pre-trial detention centers in Russia, about 20,000 of them are women. At the same time, there are only three “women’s” detention centers in the country: in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.
The senator drew attention to reports of “hazing” in the Moscow women’s detention center, which appeared in the media just the other day. “What examples are given there is not a place for a person to stay, even if he committed a crime or some kind of offense. And, of course, you and I have legislation that says that there are other preventive measures for those people who have not yet been convicted and sent to colonies,” Elena Afanasyeva added.
The participants of the expert session agreed that too often people who have not committed violent crimes end up in pre-trial detention centers. “For whom did we come up with all these bracelets, a written undertaking not to leave?” asked a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation Natalya Moskvitina. And Shota Gorgadze, a member of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, gave a specific example when a mother of a 6-year-old child was placed in a pre-trial detention center, clearly not a threat to others. We are talking about the sensational case of Olga Mirimskaya, co-owner of the Russian Product company and BKF bank. The criminal case against her, not without reason, is considered revenge for the return of the kidnapped child.
Last week, Shota Gorgadze joined this case as a lawyer for the arrested woman. He is sure that the situation in which Olga Mirimskaya found herself can be considered indicative in terms of the situation of Russian women who have become accused in criminal cases not related to violence.
According to Gorgadze, the fact that Mirimskaya is in the detention center can be explained by only one task that the investigator sets for himself. “I don’t know if he is acting on someone’s orders, I don’t know if he is corrupt or not, I don’t know how honest he is. But it is obvious to me that Olga Mirimskaya is in a pre-trial detention center only so that, under the yoke of the atmosphere in which she is there, in isolation from her 6-year-old child, who does not understand why her mother has been gone for a month, she confessed and, maybe she slandered those who have nothing to do with criminal activity. And she herself also did not commit any crime, ”said a member of the HRC.
“If she is dangerous to society and needs to be isolated, then my question is: why wasn’t she isolated two months ago, three months ago, six months? The man lived for 57 years, did not kill anyone, did not slaughter, was not dangerous to society. And now, when it has become profitable for someone, Olga Mirimskaya suddenly urgently needs to be placed in a pre-trial detention center, ”he added.
The eldest daughter of Olga Mirimskaya, Natalya Golubovich, also attended the expert session within the walls of the Federation Council. She told reporters that her mother’s arrest in December was a continuation of a story that began several years ago.
“My mother already in 2015 experienced a year and a half of hell when Sonya was kidnapped. Mom did everything to find her. Sonya was taken abroad, found at the illegal crossing (by the kidnappers – ed.) of the border of Southern and Northern Cyprus. Then the child was extradited to Turkey, where our ambassador took control of the case. So Sonya ended up in Russia. What is happening to my mother now is not a new persecution. These are criminal cases with absolutely zero prospects, fabricated from lies and false evidence planted on us during several searches, absolutely illegally organized,” said Natalya Golubovich.
She emphasized that in the framework of previous criminal cases, Olga Mirimskaya had been issued a preventive measure in the form of an obligation to appear, which she complied with: “When she went abroad, my mother returned. Never broke the law. She is a law-abiding person.”
“Honestly, I’m in shock! I listen to all this and cannot understand what is happening at all, because the child has the right to be with his parents and be brought up in the family. Few people think in this situation that the child is experiencing. What happened to him after birth, and how long it took him to rehabilitate after these abductions – that he did not say until the age of 4 that he turned into a man only thanks to his mother. And now what happened? And now the mother has been kidnapped! Before that, they stole the child, but now they stole the mother! What kind of danger is this – a 57-year-old woman? – Natalia Moskvitina, a member of the Public Chamber, is perplexed.
Mikhail Delyagin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, also recognized the significance for society of the case of Olga Mirimskaya. “This example can change the situation when people are sent to a pre-trial detention center just like that: so that they testify for themselves, as in the Middle Ages; to break their will and health; so that, even if they do not testify against themselves, they cannot fully defend themselves in court; so that some people get stars, while others get a term. And those who receive stars will be able to do the same for us – everyone else, ”said Delyagin. “I don’t know whether Olga Mirimskaya is to blame or not. But the president keeps saying that people should not be sent to jail for non-violent crimes,” the deputy added.
Senator Elena Afanasyeva recalled that the day before, the Presidential Human Rights Council announced that appropriate changes would be added to the legislation. “Frankly, I fully share the opinion of the HRC. It is necessary to change the legislation, work with it seriously, so that other preventive measures are applied to people whose guilt in committing non-violent crimes has not yet been proven in court, ”she said and recalled that the Criminal Procedure Code provides, among other things, for house arrest, a subscription on his own recognizance and a ban on certain actions.