If a citizen is beaten by police, they are held criminally liable, and penalties are chosen based on the harm caused to health. After a police officer is found guilty of exceeding his official powers, he can be charged money spent on restoring his health.
Police officers are called upon to protect respectable citizens from the attacks of criminals, but there are situations when law enforcement officers themselves commit illegal acts. Not only a criminal, but also an ordinary citizen can face abuse of power.
If the police beat you up, many people don’t know what to do. Such a crime cannot be left unattended and the perpetrators must be punished. There are certain difficulties in proving abuse of power, but if all the evidence is collected, the likelihood of a successful outcome is quite high.
Qualification of the crime
If a law enforcement officer did not have compelling reasons to use force against a citizen, then such an act will be qualified under Article 286 of the Criminal Code. Crimes of this nature are divided into two categories:
- Ordinary. Characterized by actions exceeding the powers of the police officer, which violate the legitimate rights and interests of citizens.
- With aggravating circumstances.
If the police beat a citizen under the following circumstances:
- Making a threat to use physical force.
- Use of special means or weapons.
- Causing grievous bodily harm.
If a police officer used physical force against a citizen, but did not inflict serious injuries and there is no characteristic of an aggravating circumstance, then the offender will be charged with abuse of power.
Is it possible to call an ambulance to record a beating?
An ambulance can be called after an incident if the victim cannot independently get to the emergency room and the injuries are severe. Emergency doctors do not issue any certificates.
Their powers include emergency resuscitation of the patient, provision of first aid and delivery to the emergency hospital.
If you call an ambulance, doctors will examine the victim, apply tourniquets, close open wounds, give painkillers and conduct a survey to find out the medical history.
The victim will then be taken to the hospital where he will be examined. The doctors on duty will be able to issue a certificate of beatings. If you call an ambulance for a victim who does not need hospitalization, the doctors will provide first aid and leave. The fact of calling an ambulance will be recorded and transferred to the police department at the victim’s place of residence. After which the district police officer will be required to conduct a conversation with the victim if an application is not filed.
Scope of legitimate use of force
The law defines several situations when police officers can use force against citizens:
- If a citizen suspected of committing a crime, whom the police are trying to detain, ignores their demands. For the use of force to be legal, the police officer must introduce himself and warn the attacker about the possible use of physical force against him.
- The use of force is permitted if there is a clear threat to the life and health of the police officer.
In any case, when using force against citizens suspected of a crime, the police officer must try to minimize the damage caused. If, during the arrest, a person was seriously injured, such actions of a police officer can be classified as abuse of power, even though there were grounds for using force.
Why do people go to work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs
According to the decree of the Russian President, up to 894 thousand people can work in the internal affairs bodies, that is, one policeman for every 160 people. This is twice as much as in the United States: there is one police officer for every 358 civilians.
By 2014, 25 thousand people had joined the ranks of the Russian OMON, a special police unit. Since 2016, data on the number and structure of riot police has been hidden - now it is a state secret classified as “Secret”.
Daria Turchenkova, a former psychologist of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with 13 years of experience, told Utopia about the key factors that bring people to the police. The first is family tradition. According to her, the example of a parent serving in the authorities is still relevant, although sometimes elders, on the contrary, dissuade people from serving. The second is the opportunity to immediately find a job in your specialty after graduating from a specialized university.
At the beginning of his service, the average police officer receives 40 thousand rubles per month. With increasing rank (lieutenant, major, colonel, general) and increasing length of service and length of service, the salary also increases. In addition, employees receive bonuses for the complexity of the task performed. For example, for the dispersal of rallies on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow in December 2011, the salaries of riot police officers were increased by a third.
Police officers also receive additional benefits from the state: bonuses of up to 25% of the basic salary, payments for merit up to 40% of the basic salary, quarterly and one-time bonuses. They are provided with registration, housing and social benefits, free insurance, and medical care. Employees and their families are fully paid for housing rent and partially for vacations. They also have longer vacations than average - from 38 to 53 days a year, instead of the average 28.
“Many of us wanted to join the riot police,” says Mark. — For the guys, especially from the regions, the money was quite large, but the selection there is really difficult. They don’t take suckers there: you need to be two meters tall, beaten tightly and with the ideology that they need. The riot police are looking for people who can go and beat up other people for no reason, but you don’t find people like that so easily.”
Photo: Elena Lukyanova / Novaya Gazeta
Upon retirement after 13 years of service—one year of work is equivalent to one and a half years of service—police officers receive a high pension and the opportunity to purchase an apartment at the expense of the Ministry of Defense. This is also a strong motivator for the service: in 2018, the number of personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs sharply decreased, as employees began to resign en masse due to their length of service, which gives them the right to receive a pension. According to the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, they feared that police reform would raise the retirement age for employees, and chose to quit rather than serve for several more years.
The choice of profession is also influenced by the personal qualities of security forces. “People join the riot police with a certain worldview, with a certain concept of themselves and a concept of others, in which others are objects,” says Parsadanyan. According to her, changing this pattern of behavior is sometimes almost impossible.
However, a dehumanizing worldview can come into conflict with the inner one, which is why a person will be destroyed: become bitter, callous and lose empathy, explains the psychologist.
Qualification of crime under articles of the Criminal Code
The responsibility of police officers who exceed their official powers is determined by the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and provides for the following measures of guilt:
- Not severe injuries or beatings. When considering such a crime, the court qualifies them under Article 116: hooliganism, the motive of which was the political, racial, ideological and other beliefs of the policeman
- Minor injuries. If, after beating by police officers, a citizen suffered minor bodily injuries or loss of ability to work for a short period of time, then criminals who exceeded their official powers will be held accountable under Article 115.
- Moderate health damage. Punishment for causing moderate damage to health is regulated by Article 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. If appropriate evidence is presented, the court may consider such a crime under Article 113 (causing harm in a state of passion) or 114 (causing harm to health during the detention of an attacker).
- Serious harm to health. If during the beating of a citizen he experienced:
- Complete or partial loss of one of the body functions (vision, hearing, speech, etc.).
- Severe psychological trauma.
- Termination of pregnancy, regardless of term.
- Other significant harm to health was caused.
Such an act will be considered based on the provisions of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Under certain circumstances, a crime can be qualified under Article 118, which implies causing grievous bodily harm due to careless actions.
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- Systematic pressure on citizens. If beatings, torture, intimidation and other methods of physical and moral influence are systematically received from a police officer, such a crime will be considered based on Article 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
A police officer who has committed a crime may be subject to penalties under several articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Beaten by the police: what to do
Home Press center Beaten by the police: what to do
Violence in law enforcement is not a thing of history. Most often it is used to obtain confessions. Sometimes - “for the sake of caution” so that the detainee “does not lose his license.” Sometimes - just to demonstrate strength and vent anger. According to expert estimates, violence is used most often by the police. Fewer in the FSB and the Investigative Committee. The recommendations below are universal and can be used to report torture against an employee of any law enforcement agency. The exception here is the employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service, since the collection of information and verification of allegations of beatings in institutions of the penitentiary system are particularly specific.
How can I prove that I was beaten by the police?
1. The most important thing is to record the injuries that the police caused to you.
Medical documentation of bodily injuries is the basis without which it is almost impossible to achieve good results in verifying a claim of torture. A common mistake is not recording or registering injuries late in a medical facility. Remember: verbal descriptions or photographs of injuries are not enough; official medical documents must be obtained.
There are several ways you can do this.
Firstly, if possible, call yourself or ask to call an ambulance to the place of detention or to the police department. For example, this request can be indicated in the protocols of investigative and operational actions that are carried out with you. You can complain about poor health to the employees themselves. Sometimes, when they fear the consequences of not providing medical care, it works. If there are strangers nearby, ask them to call an ambulance.
Secondly, if after the beating you were released from the police department, immediately, without any delay, undergo a medical examination. In Vladimir, this can be done, for example, at the Bureau of Forensic Medicine at the address: st. Bolshaya Nizhegorodskaya, 65-a.
Important! Medical examinations are carried out around the clock; there is no need to wait for the start of the working day or when things get “better”. Remember: to undergo a medical examination, neither an investigator’s order nor any other “permit” document is required. It is enough to draw up an agreement and pay for the examination (in Vladimir - about 700 rubles).
Thirdly, if you were not released from the police, but were sent to a temporary detention facility, special detention center, pre-trial detention center, etc. – ask for a medical examination upon arrival there.
Important! Whatever method you use, ask doctors to record bodily injuries in as much detail as possible (their nature, size, color, location on the body), as well as the circumstances of their receipt - who, where, when, how and with what they were inflicted.
2. Remember those who may witness the beating, if possible, write down their contacts.
Firstly, these are the police officers themselves who used force.
Important! Remember as much information as possible by which they can be identified: last names, first names, ranks, color and features of clothing, uniforms (epaulets, chevrons, badges), gender, age, height, physique, special features (beard, mustache, moles, tattoos) , scars), nationality, speech characteristics (accent, stuttering, sayings), etc.
Secondly, these are people who could see you at the police department - other employees, detainees or people waiting to be seen on other matters (near the duty station, offices of other employees, etc.).
Thirdly, these are people who saw you during your arrest, before and after your detention at the police department. These could be relatives, acquaintances, neighbors, passers-by, doctors who examined you...
It is best that these are persons who are in no way related to you by family or friendship. Formally, there is no prohibition on using the testimony of such witnesses, but if you only have them, those checking your application may write that they do not trust such testimony, since it was given by “interested parties.”
Important! If these are persons previously unknown to you (other detainees, cellmates, random witnesses), if possible, exchange contacts with them (last and first names, phone number, place of residence).
The main thing is that they can confirm that before you got to the police department, you did not have any bodily injuries or health complaints, and then they appeared.
This is important because it makes good use of the legal position of the European Court of Human Rights: “Where the events in dispute are wholly or for the most part within the exclusive knowledge of the authorities, as in the case of persons detained under the control of the authorities, strong presumptions of fact arise as to injuries and deaths occurring while in custody. Moreover, it should be considered that the burden of proof lies with the authorities, who must provide a satisfactory and convincing explanation for the “applicant’s injuries” (Kornev v. Russia judgment of 28 September 2006, application no. 26089/02, §35, “Filatov v. Russia” of November 8, 2011, complaint No. 22485/05, §58, etc.).
In other words, if the applicant has filed a complaint about torture, then the burden of proving the absence of torture lies on the law enforcement officers against whom such a statement was made.
The fact that there was no unlawful influence on the applicant must be established beyond a reasonable doubt. Moreover, “any deficiency in the investigation that makes it impossible to establish the origin of the injuries or the identity of the perpetrators may lead to a violation of this standard” (Shishkin v. Russia, July 7, 2011, complaint No. 18280/04).
3. Try to remember the place where you were beaten.
If this happened on the street - where exactly everything happened and what is nearby (residential buildings, shops, kiosks, children's playground, etc.).
If this is an office in the police department - where was it located (address, floor, wing of the building, corner office or not, far from the elevator/stairs or not), what it looks like (shape and approximate area, how many windows, how they are located and what kind of tables, chairs, cabinets, sofas, furnishing features - flower pots, maps, sports equipment, etc.).
If during the beating something in the office was damaged, pieces of furniture were broken, glass was broken, there were traces of blood - try to remember these circumstances.
4. If possible, turn on the voice recorder on your phone.
There is no point in doing this demonstratively or turning on the video recording - this will not protect against possible aggression, and besides, they will simply take your phone away and you will not be able to use it. It is better to secretly enable audio recording in the background, positioning the phone so that it is not very noticeable, and at the same time it records sound normally. At the same time, you shouldn’t rely heavily on your phone - it can still be discovered, taken away, and the record erased. But you shouldn’t neglect the available technical capabilities.
If you are afraid that you may be detained, inform your relatives in advance, warn them about the necessary measures in such an emergency situation, and also enter into an agreement with a lawyer who could immediately go to the police department to provide you with legal assistance.
How and where to complain?
Verification of allegations of crimes committed by state representatives (including police officers and other law enforcement agencies) is carried out by investigators of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. Therefore, the application is submitted to the territorial department of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the area where the beating took place. The law does not prohibit filing an application with any investigative department, but this leads to a loss of time in redirecting the application to the “correct” investigative department.
The application must indicate the last name, first name, patronymic, contact details of the applicant, as well as clearly and without “lyrical digressions” the circumstances of the incident (date, time, place, specific actions and signs of police officers, injuries received). You should immediately attach medical documents to the application, as well as indicate possible witnesses (if known, their full names and contacts). Then, during the inspection, you will be able to give more detailed and detailed explanations.
The pleading part of the application can be formulated as follows: “I ask you to check the facts specified in the application, give them a criminal legal assessment and determine whether the actions of the police officers contain a crime under Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.”
It is better to submit a signed application with attachments in person, rather than by mail or through the online reception. You must be given a notification slip that your application has been accepted. This will allow you to track, among other things, the timing of the verification of the application.
What about the testimony that I gave under torture and the protocols that I signed?
According to the legal position of the ECtHR, “corroborative evidence – whether in the form of a confession or physical evidence – obtained as a result of violent acts or the use of cruelty or other forms of treatment that can be characterized as torture – should never be used to confirm the guilt of the victim, regardless of the possible value of such evidence. Any other conclusion will only help to indirectly legitimize the morally reprehensible behavior that the authors of Article 3 of the Convention tried to prohibit or, in other words, “to cover cruelty with the cloak of law” (Kharutyunyan v. Armenia, June 28, 2007, application no. 36549/ 03, §63).
Unfortunately, Russian courts and law enforcement officers, understanding the consequences of admitting the fact of torture (the “collapse” of the case, which rests on extracted confessions and “confessions,” the initiation of criminal cases against the police officers themselves), often ignore allegations of torture or verify them formally.
But there are no other ways to influence the situation other than a competent and persistent appeal in all instances, including the ECHR, which has developed a wealth of positive practice on complaints of torture.
If you need the help of a lawyer in criminal, family, or civil law, you can call 8-910-188-73-21 or write by email or telegram.
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Recovery of funds spent on restoring health
If a citizen was beaten by a policeman, and he was found guilty of a crime by the court, then money for treatment can be recovered from him. To receive full compensation, it is necessary to keep all receipts and receipts from medical institutions and pharmacies in order to establish the exact amount spent on doctors’ services and the purchase of medications.
During the consideration of an application for payment of compensation for personal injury, all collected documents must be attached to the application. The court will examine all the circumstances of the case and make a decision on compensation for the medical expenses that the victim spent to restore his health.
