Yesterday, the FSB itself disclosed what it had written in response to our inquiry about the mysterious officer with a shiny pistol on his belt:
The armed man who identified himself to journalists as FSB officer Tarkhan Kurbanov during the detention of millionaire Adam Taramov on Kutuzovsky Prospekt (a major avenue in Moscow) does not work for the agency and never has. The FSB Public Relations Center said that the man’s identity has been established. He is being checked for possible use of forged documents, and investigators are also determining whether he had the legal right to carry a weapon. http://lenta.ru/news/2012/07/17/fsb/
Well, we’re waiting for the results of the investigation. Maybe the pistol was a toy after all, and Rafik really is “not guilty” after all.