Krasnodar court cancels verdict to law enforcers for beating Yevgeny Manchenko

In Krasnodar, the Cassation Court has cancelled the acquittal of the police inspectors who beat disabled person Yevgeny Manchenko in 2019, and the case has been returned to the regional court for a new trial for the fourth time, the “Team Against Torture”* reports.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on July 21, 2023, a court acquitted former patrol-and-post police service (known as PPS) inspectors Vladimir Tatarkov and Vyacheslav Zyabkin in the case on beating of Yevgeny Manchenko. Both police inspectors received the right to rehabilitation for “unlawful criminal prosecution.” On December 7, 2023, the Cassation Court in Krasnodar cancelled the acquittal of the former police inspectors and returned the case for reconsideration. On June 14, 2024, the Cassation Court returned the case on beating of Yevgeny Manchenko to the regional court for the third time. In September, the regional court again acquitted the police inspectors. The text of the second acquittal of the law enforcers is almost identical to the first one, human rights defenders note.

The acquittal of Vyacheslav Zyabkin and Vladimir Tatarkov was cancelled because of significant violations of criminal procedure and criminal law.

Let us remind you that in March 2019, Yevgeny Manchenko tried to climb over a fence into the yard of his house, as he had lost his keys. At that moment, the police inspectors ran up to him, began to pull him off the fence, and hit him in the leg with a baton. When Yevgeny Manchenko fell to the ground, the police inspectors continued to beat him, a victim’s mother claimed. The woman has noted that her 23-year-old son is disabled with special needs. After hospitalization, a medical officer diagnosed Yevgeny Manchenko with a broken leg.

*The “Team against Torture” (TaT, formerly the “Committee against Torture” – CaT) was created by the lawyers who had earlier worked for the CaT, which was included into the register of the NCOs performing the functions of foreign agents.