Prosecutor's Office reports absence of videos from cameras on Titiev's detention day

The outdoor video cameras located on the route of Oyub Titiev, the head of the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", on the day of his detention were either inactive, or the records from them did not survive, the representative of the Prosecutor's Office has stated today during the announcement of the materials of the case.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that since January 11, Oyub Titiev has been under arrest on charges of drug possession. He asserts that the drugs were planted on him by law enforcers.

At the today's court session, the prosecutor Baitaeva read out a number of investigator's requests concerning the records of outdoor video cameras, human rights defenders report.

"On the way of Oyub Titiev, from the place of his detention to the police station, video cameras are available on the buildings of the Kurchaloi ROVD (District Interior Division), Russian Agricultural Bank, district administration, pension fund, Prosecutor's Office, House of Culture, Sberbank, Chechenenergo, and Department of Labour and Social Protection. For technical reasons, on January 9, these cameras were inoperative, or records from them were lost. Only the cameras on the building of the local FSB division were working. However, according to the materials of the case, these cameras "are installed to visually monitor the perimeter of the fencing of the protected area and do not allow monitoring of the adjacent objects," says the broadcast on the Telegram-channel of the HRC "Memorial".

According to the defence, on the detention day, Titiev was twice brought to the police station. According to advocates, it is the fact of his repeated delivery to the police station proves that the drug possession case was falsified. According to investigators, the cameras installed in the police station, where the human rights defender was brought, did not work either. The defence pointed out in this connection that Titiev's case had lost the most important evidence of its falsification.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 17, 2018 at 11:44 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.