Mr. Yuri Yakovlevich Chaika

Prosecutor General, Russian Federation

Mr. Prosecutor General,

On July 29, 2010, Alexey Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov were detained on suspicion that they had paticipated in and organized the July 28 attack on the Khimki municipal administration building (Moscow Region). On August 3, the Khimki municipal court decided to remand them to further police custody. On August 13, this decision was confirmed. Now they have been charged under Article 213 (part 2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

According to the information available to me, serious abuse of power and violations of their rights have been committed during the detainment and further treatment of Alexey Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov. In the materials presented by the prosecution during the pre-trial detention hearing, it was alleged that the suspects were detained “immediately after the commission of the crime” (Gaskarov) and “during the commission of the crime” (Solopov), while in reality both of them were detained the following day, in Moscow. They both reported voluntarily to the police after they were invited for a “talk”, without an official written summons. The relatives of the detainees were not informed of their arrests. Police searched Alexey Gaskarov’s apartment without a warrant and without presenting any other documents; they did not compile a list of confiscated items, nor were attesting witnesses present, as required by Russian law.

The July 31, August 3 and August 13 pre-trial detention hearings were held in closed chamber, although no convincing arguments were offered to justify this measure. According to reports, the witnesses contradicted one another in their testimonies. Defense counsel Mikhail Trepashkin was asked to agree to a gag order, which would have unfairly restricted his ability to act on behalf of his client, Alexey Gaskarov.

When the police tried to get testimonies in this case, a social activist Evgeniya Chirikova and journalists who covered the events in Khimki were detained and interrogated, also with a number of violations of law reported.

All these circumstances raise serious doubts about the soundness of the investigation’s case against Alexey Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov and particularly about the need to retain them in custody. Moreover, they provoke very real concerns that unlawful methods will be used against them during the investigation.

I urge you to undertake a comprehensive probe to determine whether Alexey Gaskarov’s and Maxim Solopov’s rights have been violated, as well as those of all other persons who have been detained or interrogated in connection with this case.

Considering the unfounded nature of the suspicions against Alexey Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov, and the abuse of power and violations of rights that have already been committed during the investigation, I believe that there are sufficient grounds to reconsider the court’s decision to remand them to further police custody, and thus to immediately release Alexey Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov.