Congratulations to everyone who has served or is serving in the army and navy. And, more broadly, to all Defenders of the Fatherland in the widest sense of the term. Russia has many of them. On this day, it is especially appropriate to remember those servicemen who cannot celebrate the holiday with their families not because they are serving on submarines, at remote outposts, and so on, but because they were betrayed. First and foremost, I mean the Arakcheev-Khudyakov case. These servicemen were accused of war crimes in Chechnya. They have always denied their guilt. They were twice acquitted by a jury trial, yet were still unlawfully convicted by a "professional court."
Sergei Arakcheev Unfortunately, this trial has now begun to fade from memory, even though it became one of the symbols of the mockery of justice and of arbitrariness used to achieve vile political goals. Put simply, Arakcheev and Khudyakov were sacrificed so that Ramzan Kadyrov could more easily drive around in a Porsche Cayenne and throw around 5,000-ruble banknotes and gold bars at weddings. You can find details of the case here. Below is a brief, dry summary of the case consisting of indisputable facts. B R I E F on the case of servicemen of military unit 3186, S.V. Arakcheev and E.V. Khudyakov (case No. 8/06, 5/07) Sergei Vladimirovich Arakcheev, born 6 July 1981, lieutenant, commander of the engineering-sapper company of military unit 3186 (the F.E. Dzerzhinsky Division, Reutov-3, Moscow Region), no previous convictions, positively characterized both in service and at his place of residence, repeatedly commended, awarded the medals “For Military Valor,” “For Martial Valor,” and the Suvorov Medal. Evgeny Sergeyevich Khudyakov, born 26 January 1978, senior lieutenant, commander of a motorized rifle company of military unit 3186, no previous convictions, positively characterized both in service and at his place of residence, repeatedly commended. According to the prosecution, on 15 January 2003, the APC of reconnaissance company A-226 under the command of E.S. Khudyakov stopped a KAMAZ truck on a dirt road near Severny Airport in Grozny. S.V. Arakcheev and E.S. Khudyakov ordered the driver, S.S. Yangulbayev, and passengers A.A. Dzhambekov and N.U. Khasanov out of the vehicle, after which they killed them without motive (no motive was given in the verdict) by firing the 9 mm and 5.45 mm assault rifles assigned to them. Then, according to the investigation, S.V. Arakcheev and E.S. Khudyakov blew up the KAMAZ truck. By the verdict of the North Caucasus District Military Court dated 29 June 2004, S.V. Arakcheev and E.S. Khudyakov, on the charges brought under Articles 105 Part 2 Clauses “a, zh, l,” 167 Part 1, and 286 Part 3 Clauses “a, b” of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, were acquitted due to their non-involvement in these crimes. On 11 November 2004, the acquittal was overturned by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (cassation ruling No. 5-64/04) *because the jury panel in the case included citizens from jury lists not only for 2004, but also for 2003. * By the verdict of the North Caucasus District Military Court dated 12 October 2005, S.V. Arakcheev and E.S. Khudyakov were acquitted again due to non-involvement in the crimes. On 25 April 2006, the acquittal was overturned by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (cassation ruling No. 5-64/04) on the basis of Constitutional Court ruling No. 3-P of 6 April 2006, and S.V. Arakcheev and E.S. Khudyakov were deprived of the right to have their case heard by a jury. By the verdict of Judge V.E. Tsybulnik of the North Caucasus District Military Court on 27 December 2007, S.V. Arakcheev and E.V. Khudyakov were sentenced to 15 and 17 years of imprisonment, respectively, in a maximum-security penal colony. By ruling No. 5-64/04 of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 28 August 2008, the verdict of the North Caucasus District Military Court of 27 December 2007 was upheld. Presiding over the case at the cassation stage was Colonel of Justice Judge I.V. Krupnov, who until October 2007 had served as Deputy Chairman of the North Caucasus District Military Court. Arakcheev’s alibi is confirmed by documents and witnesses: According to the inspection report of the vehicle movement log dated 18 January 2003, “On 15 January 2003, APCs A-208 and A-211 departed three times during the periods from 7:20 to 9:30, from 10:20 to 12:20, and from 14:20 to 15:25. The officers in charge were Arakcheev and Berelidze.” (Vol. 1, pp. 120–124) In other words, as is clear from the log, at the time of the events described in the indictment, Arakcheev was not with Khudyakov in APC A-226, but in a completely different place as commander of APC A-208. There is no order in the case file assigning S.V. Arakcheev to Khudyakov’s crew. On the contrary, the court was presented with extracts from orders of E.A. Yegorov, commander of the 2nd Special Purpose Regiment, No. 016 of 14 January 2003 (Vol. 35, p. 221) and No. 017 of 14 January 2003 (Vol. 35, p. 222), issued at the temporary deployment point in Grozny, stating that on 15 January 2003 S.V. Arakcheev had been assigned to go out as commander on an engineering reconnaissance mission (demining) in APC A-208, with a cover group in APC A-211 under the command of Captain P.G. Berelidze. According to an extract from Combat Operations Log of military unit 3186 No. 913-S for 15 January 2003 (Vol. 40, p. 26), these orders of the commander were carried out. At the court hearing, Arakcheev’s alibi was confirmed by 25 witnesses: witnesses M.V. Nuzhdin, A.V. Zadyora, A.A. Marchev, S.A. Brazhnikov, Lieutenant Colonel N.T. Tigishvili, Lieutenant Colonel S.M. Perpelyuk, Lieutenant Colonel M.N. Prussakov, V.S. Stepanov, S.M. Nikiforov, V.A. Yudin, E.I. Sviridov, N.S. Aikin, D.A. Milov, A.A. Golovin, A.A. Churin, E.A. Iskaliyev, S.M. Makarchenkov, R.A. Zaitsev, D.V. Strelets, A.V. Matveyev, A.E. Timofeyev, O.N. Pershin, Major A.M. Skachkov, Lieutenant Colonel Yu.E. Novik, Lieutenant Colonel A.V. Sizov. Judge V.E. Tsybulnik refused to read into the record the testimony of 5 additional defense witnesses who did not appear in court but had been questioned earlier. The conclusions of ballistic examination No. 143/03 state: “The submitted spent casings from 7.62 rounds, 9 mm rounds, and 5.45 rounds found at the scene and during the additional inspection of the scene were not fired from AS ‘VAL’ LE 0259 (Khudyakov’s rifle) or AKS-74M No. 7882965 (Arakcheev’s rifle).” (Vol. 8, pp. 98–102) A total of 5 ballistic examinations were conducted in the case, all with the same result. The bodies discovered on 16 January 2003 were buried the same day, and the clothing was immediately destroyed. No autopsies were ever performed. Nevertheless, according to the expert, there is a blind wound in the body of S.S. Yangulbayev. The defense is convinced that there is a 7.62 mm bullet there. Exhumation and autopsy of the bodies were refused. Judge V.E. Tsybulnik refused to question E.N. Maslov, who had appeared in court, a forensic medical expert from the Department of Complex Examinations of the Rostov Region Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination, a top-category expert and professor. Judge V.E. Tsybulnik also refused to admit into the case file all conclusions by medical specialists. I apologize if I have spoiled anyone’s holiday mood. But this must be remembered.
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