The Office of the Investigative Committee for the Tambov Region opened a criminal case on the occasion of bringing to suicide the vice-governor, the head of the regional property management committee Gleb Chulkov. The TFR believes that unidentified persons “through threats and systematic humiliation of dignity” created a situation in which the official decided to commit suicide. The police, who suspected Mr. Chulkov of attempted fraud, plan to comment on TFR materials later. According to sources of Kommersant-Chernozemye, psychotropic substances that could cause hallucinations were found in the blood of a deceased official.
The law enforcement agency of the Tambov Region instituted criminal proceedings into the suicide of the vice-governor of the region Gleb Chulkov (part 1 of article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the maximum sentence is seven years in prison), the deceased’s lawyer Alexander Bogolepov told Kommersant yesterday. He still continues to represent the interests of the official in the case of an attempt at a particularly large-scale fraud with the theft of property of the state Rasskazovsky market, initiated in May by local police officers.
According to the lawyer, the case has been opened against “unidentified persons”. They "created threats to Chulkov through threats and systematic humiliation of human dignity." Because of her, investigators believe, a senior official decided to commit suicide.
Alexander Bogolepov believes that the initiation of the case was helped by the publication in the media of several notes of Mr. Chulkov, including those prepared several weeks before his death. He actually accused them of pressure from investigators and officers of the FSIN, who allegedly deprived his entire family of peace, monitored his every move, seeking to change the preventive measure from house arrest to transfer to a pre-trial detention center. “It is correct that a case was opened. Obviously, this decision was influenced by the objectivity of the investigative committee and the published suicide notes, although it is possible that in the future one more case will be opened on the fact of their public distribution, ”said Mr. Bogolepov.
He refrained from assessing who could become involved in the case of bringing an official to suicide. “I don’t really want to comment on the prospects of the investigation so as not to cast a shadow on people. Even before Chulkov’s death, we filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office with a request to transfer his case for greater objectivity of the TFR. We believed that the police investigation was biased. The regional prosecutor’s office refused us. ”
Mr. Chulkov’s body was found early in the morning of December 8 under the balcony of an apartment building on Pionerskaya Street, where he was under house arrest in an apartment on the fifth floor. On the night of October 17, an official was detained by local police on suspicion of attempting a particularly large fraud (Article 30, part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code, up to five years in prison). In addition to this, the persons involved in the case are Sergey Klemeshov, ex-market leader and Andrei Bludov, former head of the regional Fund for Assistance to Lending to Small and Medium Enterprises.
Relatives of Mr. Chulkov, after his death, turned to State Duma deputy Vyacheslav Lysakov, saying that the vice-governor was likely to commit suicide, including through pressure from security forces on his family. The parliamentarian redirected this information to the Prosecutor General, the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs’s own security service.
The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Tambov region promised Kommersant to comment on the situation later, including with a possible end to the persecution of Gleb Chulkov because of his death. Lawyer Alexander Bogolepov suggests that relatives in any case can insist on bringing the case to court in order to prove the innocence of the deceased. “To stop the case, the Ministry of Internal Affairs needs permission from relatives. But death is not a rehabilitating circumstance, perhaps relatives will want to prove Chulkov’s right, ”Mr Bogolepov added.
A Kommersant Chernozemye source in the region’s law enforcement agencies assured that the initiation of proceedings was not a political decision. “The investigation studied the circumstances of the death of an official for almost a week. Inquiries were even made to manufacturers of electronic bracelets in order to obtain their conclusion when and for what reason the signal from Chulkov disappeared. Also closely monitored are the activities of the police officers who were in charge of the vice-governor. For example, how could psychotropic substances cause hallucinations in his blood? Their presence was confirmed by the examination, ”concluded the interlocutor of“ Chernozemye ”.
The law enforcement agency of the Tambov Region instituted criminal proceedings into the suicide of the vice-governor of the region Gleb Chulkov (part 1 of article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the maximum sentence is seven years in prison), the deceased’s lawyer Alexander Bogolepov told Kommersant yesterday. He still continues to represent the interests of the official in the case of an attempt at a particularly large-scale fraud with the theft of property of the state Rasskazovsky market, initiated in May by local police officers.
According to the lawyer, the case has been opened against “unidentified persons”. They "created threats to Chulkov through threats and systematic humiliation of human dignity." Because of her, investigators believe, a senior official decided to commit suicide.
Alexander Bogolepov believes that the initiation of the case was helped by the publication in the media of several notes of Mr. Chulkov, including those prepared several weeks before his death. He actually accused them of pressure from investigators and officers of the FSIN, who allegedly deprived his entire family of peace, monitored his every move, seeking to change the preventive measure from house arrest to transfer to a pre-trial detention center. “It is correct that a case was opened. Obviously, this decision was influenced by the objectivity of the investigative committee and the published suicide notes, although it is possible that in the future one more case will be opened on the fact of their public distribution, ”said Mr. Bogolepov.
He refrained from assessing who could become involved in the case of bringing an official to suicide. “I don’t really want to comment on the prospects of the investigation so as not to cast a shadow on people. Even before Chulkov’s death, we filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office with a request to transfer his case for greater objectivity of the TFR. We believed that the police investigation was biased. The regional prosecutor’s office refused us. ”
Mr. Chulkov’s body was found early in the morning of December 8 under the balcony of an apartment building on Pionerskaya Street, where he was under house arrest in an apartment on the fifth floor. On the night of October 17, an official was detained by local police on suspicion of attempting a particularly large fraud (Article 30, part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code, up to five years in prison). In addition to this, the persons involved in the case are Sergey Klemeshov, ex-market leader and Andrei Bludov, former head of the regional Fund for Assistance to Lending to Small and Medium Enterprises.
Relatives of Mr. Chulkov, after his death, turned to State Duma deputy Vyacheslav Lysakov, saying that the vice-governor was likely to commit suicide, including through pressure from security forces on his family. The parliamentarian redirected this information to the Prosecutor General, the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs’s own security service.
The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Tambov region promised Kommersant to comment on the situation later, including with a possible end to the persecution of Gleb Chulkov because of his death. Lawyer Alexander Bogolepov suggests that relatives in any case can insist on bringing the case to court in order to prove the innocence of the deceased. “To stop the case, the Ministry of Internal Affairs needs permission from relatives. But death is not a rehabilitating circumstance, perhaps relatives will want to prove Chulkov’s right, ”Mr Bogolepov added.
A Kommersant Chernozemye source in the region’s law enforcement agencies assured that the initiation of proceedings was not a political decision. “The investigation studied the circumstances of the death of an official for almost a week. Inquiries were even made to manufacturers of electronic bracelets in order to obtain their conclusion when and for what reason the signal from Chulkov disappeared. Also closely monitored are the activities of the police officers who were in charge of the vice-governor. For example, how could psychotropic substances cause hallucinations in his blood? Their presence was confirmed by the examination, ”concluded the interlocutor of“ Chernozemye ”.
