They tasered his hands, ribs, and below his waist just to get a confession.
Mikhail Balashov, 18, is one of the main suspects in the plot to assassinate propagandist Margarita Simonyan. He was reportedly beaten and tasered by FSB officers throughout the previous night, according to Balashov’s friends who spoke to Vot Tak.
Arrest and torture
On July 13, the FSB tracked Balashov to garages on Vavilova Street in Moscow. According to sources close to Vot Tak media, officers took him into a garage where they beat him. Balashov’s friends said he was handcuffed and tasered. He was also kicked in the face and the officers stood on his head.
Balashov told his friends that he was arrested around 11 p.m., and by the time the official riot squad arrived, it was daylight. He lost track of time and couldn’t remember how long he had been detained.
Balashov claimed that the AK-47 found during the search did not belong to him; according to him, the officers planted the rifle on him. On the other hand, the official report of the investigator says that Balashov was caught while retrieving a rifle and ammunition from a hidden place.
According to sources, Balashov is still suffering from the effects of the beating. “His head is still a bit messed up, he feels distracted, especially in the evening. He has scars on his hands. The index and middle fingers of his left hand don’t have much feeling. Everything below the waist is burnt,” said one of his friends.
Official statements
The FSB announced the arrest of Balashov and seven other suspects (almost all of them recent graduates) on July 15. Law enforcement officials claimed they were participants in a neo-Nazi group called “Paragraph 88,” who allegedly carried out tasks for Ukrainian intelligence in exchange for promised rewards (1.5 million Russian rubles (16,500 USD) for each murder). The others, however, are being held on another charge related to attacks on migrants in the forest.
In one of the released FSB videos, Balashov gives “testimony” in the same storage garage where he was held before the arrival of the task force. His face is blurred, but people close to him have confirmed his identity.
In the video, the young man can be heard struggling to breathe while saying, “…I created a neo-Nazi group ‘Paragraph 88,’ then I got in touch with the Ukrainian SBU, we distributed leaflets with Budanov’s picture [Kyrylo Budanov is a chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine]. Then we received an order to assassinate Margarita Simonyan and Ksenia Sobchak. We conducted reconnaissance and were paid 20,000 rubles…”
After the publication of this video, the FSB released another “interrogation” of Balashov, filmed after the torture in the garage. This time he is seen wearing a clean white T-shirt with the words “Waffen SS World Tour” on it, sitting on a chair in the investigator’s office, repeating almost the same text as in the video from the garage.
The case of the preparation of the assassination of Simonyan
A month after the Investigative Committee announced the arrest of the suspects, a case of preparation of an assassination attempt against Simonyan was opened. Currently, only Balashov and Saveliev are involved, while the other detainees remain in custody on various charges.
Earlier, a source close to Balashov and Saveliev told Vot Tak media that investigators were intimidating the suspects. In particular, they were told that by the end of the investigation they would have “from 10 to 15 charges” against them. The defendants believe that there will be an attempt to impose life imprisonment, but they believe they have a chance to be acquitted by a jury. Balashov and Saveliev have no intention of pleading guilty to any of the charges.
According to the defendants, an attempt will be made to sentence them to life imprisonment, but they believe they have a chance to be acquitted by a jury. Balashov and Saveliev have no intention of pleading guilty to any of the charges.
belsat.eu
