Complaints to High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatiana Moskalkova related to illegal criminal prosecution traditionally make up a significant share of all appeals on the protection of the rights of the accused. People do not agree with the actions and decisions of the bodies of inquiry and preliminary investigation, as well as the gathering and evaluation of evidence in a criminal case.

This March, A. appealed to High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatiana Moskalkova with a complaint about the illegal actions of the investigators of the Ivanovo region. A. became a casual witness of the crime when a man died from a knife wound in a brawl. A. was detained and charged with causing serious harm to health, resulting in death.

A. spent nine months in the pre-trial detention center and all this time could not achieve justice until he asked High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatiana Moskalkova for help. As a result of effective interaction with the prosecutor’s office, it turned out that A. was not involved in the crime: the biomaterial obtained from the knife belonged to another person.

A. received the right to rehabilitation. This story has become another vivid example of the systemic nature of the problem. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia, in 2020, the right to rehabilitation is recognized for almost 16 thousand people.