Yekaterinburg: The Russian Investigative Committee has yet to find substantial evidence that Shahin Shikhlinski, head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg, and the Safarov family, who were arrested in Yekaterinburg, committed any crimes, APA reports citing ‘ruscriminal.info.’
According to Azeri-Press news agency, prosecutors have been unable to explain why the Safarovs and Shikhlinskis were detained so violently in Yekaterinburg or what the charges against them were based on. After nearly three months of investigation, Ural investigators reportedly have nothing beyond a few confessions, which may have been obtained under severe torture, as was the case with the deaths of brothers Huseyn and Ziyaddin Safarov.
It was also reported that after the known events, extensive checks were carried out by the center in the Sverdlovsk Regional Department of the Federal Security Service and the Sverdlovsk Region Investigation Department of the Russian Investigative Committee. Federal agents reviewed the case materials, spoke with the heads of both agencies, as well as with the investigator leading the case against the Azerbaijanis – Major Yaroslav Kuzvesov of the Investigative Committee’s Sverdlovsk Region Investigation Department. After the checks, Major Kuzvesov admitted that he had deceived Major Generals Bogdan Francisko and Igor Nikolayev about the evidence he had in the criminal cases. Kuzvesov’s colleagues suggest that he is dissatisfied with the rank disparity within the Sverdlovsk Investigative Committee.
The publication notes that Kuzvesov views the criminal case against the Azerbaijanis as a potential opportunity for career advancement. ‘Ruscriminal.info’ also reported that the Yekaterinburg investigator involved the heads of the Sverdlovsk security structures in an international conflict.
The Russian ‘VChK-OGChP’ telegram channel published information regarding a scandal involving investigator Kuzvesov, who allegedly exhibited inappropriate behavior at work due to intoxication. This incident was reportedly triggered by a conflict with Major General Bogdan Frantsishko, head of the Sverdlovsk Investigative Committee, who demanded expedited progress on the investigation into the Azerbaijanis.
In June, Russian law enforcement conducted an operation against Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg, resulting in the deaths of brothers Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov. Other Safarov family members were detained by court order, facing charges related to crimes committed in 2001, 2010, and 2011. Shahin Shikhlinski and his son Mutvali were also detained, with Mutvali Shikhlinski facing charges of violence against a state official and Shahin Shikhlinski accused of attempted contract killing and violence against a state official.