Irkutsk human rights defender remanded in custody

Viktor Grigorov, a lawyer from Irkutsk accused of using violence against investigators (Article 296, Part 3 of the Russian Criminal Code), has been detained and remanded in custody.

Grigorov was placed on a wanted list on 23 October after failing to appear at a hearing in his case. The same day, the Kirovsky District Court ordered that the ban on certain activities be replaced with remand in custody, with Grigorov to be transferred to a remand prison once detained. Grigorov said he had not been trying to abscond and had simply not received a summons to the hearing. His defence appealed against the decision, and Grigorov attended hearings at the Irkutsk Oblast Court in person on 2 and 3 November. After the Oblast Court upheld the order to remand him in custody, law enforcement officers detained him, BG Irkutsk reports.

According to the prosecution, Grigorov used violence against investigators on two occasions. On 16 January, he ‘trapped the deputy head of the investigative department in a door at the courthouse’, IrkutskMedia reports. At the time, Grigorov was in court representing environmental activist Yuliya Karelchenko, who was facing defamation charges. A second criminal case was opened after Grigorov allegedly hit an investigator in the chest in an office on 10 March.

Grigorov was detained that day. His defence counsel told People of Baikal that Grigorov had been beaten at the Kirovsky District Investigative Department. ‘An ambulance then took him to Hospital No. 3, where his injuries were documented. Initially, the doctor said he needed to be admitted to hospital, but after the investigator spoke to the doctor, he was taken to the Kirovsky District Investigative Department,’ his defence counsel said. Grigorov was placed under house arrest on 13 March. At the end of August, his house arrest was replaced with a ban on certain activities.

Viktor Grigorov is known for his work on the Shavenkova case. Anna Shavenkova, the daughter of the chair of the Irkutsk Oblast Electoral Commission, hit two sisters with her car in 2009. One died, while the other was left with a disability. Grigorov represented the sisters’ interests in the case. He has also handled civil and administrative cases and provided legal assistance to civil society activists.