Crime fights crime
21.05.2000
There is a terrifying organization in Cherkassy — the directorate of fight with organized crime (DFOC). Here I shall tell about some of its activities.
On 10 May in a super-secret way the administration of the Cherkassy preliminary prison moved the body of Sergey Ostapenko from the prison ward of the third town hospital to the mortuary. Sergey Ostapenko was tormented to death. Meeting with his relatives in the prison he told that he was brutally tormented. The torture applied to him, the so-called ‘monument’, consisted in hanging him by hands for hours without foot support. It resulted in stopping blood circulation in his arms and his arms became gangrenous.
Sergey’s mother told that she could not recognize her son. In particular, his hands were paralyzed and he had to be fed by other people. When her son was dying in the prison ward at the third town hospital, the convoy refused to take the needed medicine from the mother. Before the arrest Sergey Ostapenko was an athlete weighting 80 kg. After six weeks in the preliminary prison he lost half of his weight.
In the Cherkassy DFOC similar events became a system. Recently a detained somehow ‘fell out’ of the window and died. Liubov Danysheva, a resident of Cherkassy, somehow disappeared together with her son. She complained to the DFOC about some racketeers, the DFOC did not help, and then she complained to security service department in Cherkassy.
Deripana, a resident of Uman, was arrested by DFOC and also disappeared.
Gavaga, the head of the administration of the town of Talniv, was arrested and hardly managed to survive. He was blamed of organizing an assassination.
Volodymir Golub, a clerk of Cherkassy town executive committee, was arrested and secretly kept in Zolotonisk cooler for seven months. Later he was found non-guilty by Cherkassy region court, but still he suffers from a mysterious illness.
Several days ago a resident of Cherkassy Komarov was directed from the DFOC to the intense care ward, where his state was assessed as critical, although, when arrested, he was sound as a bell.
Volodymir Kravchenko, a businessman from Cherkassy, after a short stay in the DFOC was directed to the neuro-surgical ward, although he was quite healthy before the ‘invitation’ to this dangerous organization.
Even the district prosecutor of Chigirin lost some teeth in the Cherkassy DFOC. This meeting of law-enforcers is covered by mystery: no one in militia or prosecutor’s office agree to comment it.
Taking into consideration the above-listed facts, it is difficult to expect that Sergey Ostapenko’s death will be objectively investigated and justly punished.
A team of generals from the Ministry of Interior inspected Cherkassy and came to the conclusion that all the facts about torture were false inventions of journalists.
Crime fights crime, and no wonder that the criminal world also started a fight with bruisers from the DFOC. In summer of 1995 a detective was killed, presumably for tormenting an innocent man. Cherkassy militia even did not try to find the killers. Recently another detective was stabbed. He remained alive quite accidentally.
Returning to Ostapenko’s case, his mother is convinced that her son was arrested with the purpose of concealing grave injuries which he got during the first interrogation. The idea was that in the preliminary prison his wounds would heal, and then he would be released. But the wounds did not heal. In order to save him his both arms had to be amputated. So it was decided that it would suit anyone if he died of some mysterious disease.
Ostapenko’s death was commented on request of Cherkassy newspaper ’Fakty’ by the head of the special unit of the preliminary prison major-colonel Sinelnikov:
— Yes, arrested Sergey Ostapenko died, but we have no part in it. We do not torment the incarcerated, because the prison does not carry out detective activities. When the administration of the prison got complaints from Ostapenko and his parents, we reacted in the framework of law, but we had no right to release him, since this is the right of the detective, prosecutor, or court.
Now we investigate why it is written in the medical card that he was directed to the prison ward of the third town hospital from home and why there are numerous corrections in his medical documents, the corrections which were made already after his death.
When we saw blue spots on Ostapenko’s arms, we immediately called the motor ambulance, but the doctors did not take him to the hospital and diagnosed the reason as allergy (?).
Only the next motor ambulance took Ostapenko to the hospital, but it was late. He died of gangrene.
The investigation will show who is guilty, but one is certain: the administration of the preliminary prison did all they could to save Sergey Ostapenko.
On 10 May in a super-secret way the administration of the Cherkassy preliminary prison moved the body of Sergey Ostapenko from the prison ward of the third town hospital to the mortuary. Sergey Ostapenko was tormented to death. Meeting with his relatives in the prison he told that he was brutally tormented. The torture applied to him, the so-called ‘monument’, consisted in hanging him by hands for hours without foot support. It resulted in stopping blood circulation in his arms and his arms became gangrenous.
Sergey’s mother told that she could not recognize her son. In particular, his hands were paralyzed and he had to be fed by other people. When her son was dying in the prison ward at the third town hospital, the convoy refused to take the needed medicine from the mother. Before the arrest Sergey Ostapenko was an athlete weighting 80 kg. After six weeks in the preliminary prison he lost half of his weight.
In the Cherkassy DFOC similar events became a system. Recently a detained somehow ‘fell out’ of the window and died. Liubov Danysheva, a resident of Cherkassy, somehow disappeared together with her son. She complained to the DFOC about some racketeers, the DFOC did not help, and then she complained to security service department in Cherkassy.
Deripana, a resident of Uman, was arrested by DFOC and also disappeared.
Gavaga, the head of the administration of the town of Talniv, was arrested and hardly managed to survive. He was blamed of organizing an assassination.
Volodymir Golub, a clerk of Cherkassy town executive committee, was arrested and secretly kept in Zolotonisk cooler for seven months. Later he was found non-guilty by Cherkassy region court, but still he suffers from a mysterious illness.
Several days ago a resident of Cherkassy Komarov was directed from the DFOC to the intense care ward, where his state was assessed as critical, although, when arrested, he was sound as a bell.
Volodymir Kravchenko, a businessman from Cherkassy, after a short stay in the DFOC was directed to the neuro-surgical ward, although he was quite healthy before the ‘invitation’ to this dangerous organization.
Even the district prosecutor of Chigirin lost some teeth in the Cherkassy DFOC. This meeting of law-enforcers is covered by mystery: no one in militia or prosecutor’s office agree to comment it.
Taking into consideration the above-listed facts, it is difficult to expect that Sergey Ostapenko’s death will be objectively investigated and justly punished.
A team of generals from the Ministry of Interior inspected Cherkassy and came to the conclusion that all the facts about torture were false inventions of journalists.
Crime fights crime, and no wonder that the criminal world also started a fight with bruisers from the DFOC. In summer of 1995 a detective was killed, presumably for tormenting an innocent man. Cherkassy militia even did not try to find the killers. Recently another detective was stabbed. He remained alive quite accidentally.
Returning to Ostapenko’s case, his mother is convinced that her son was arrested with the purpose of concealing grave injuries which he got during the first interrogation. The idea was that in the preliminary prison his wounds would heal, and then he would be released. But the wounds did not heal. In order to save him his both arms had to be amputated. So it was decided that it would suit anyone if he died of some mysterious disease.
Ostapenko’s death was commented on request of Cherkassy newspaper ’Fakty’ by the head of the special unit of the preliminary prison major-colonel Sinelnikov:
— Yes, arrested Sergey Ostapenko died, but we have no part in it. We do not torment the incarcerated, because the prison does not carry out detective activities. When the administration of the prison got complaints from Ostapenko and his parents, we reacted in the framework of law, but we had no right to release him, since this is the right of the detective, prosecutor, or court.
Now we investigate why it is written in the medical card that he was directed to the prison ward of the third town hospital from home and why there are numerous corrections in his medical documents, the corrections which were made already after his death.
When we saw blue spots on Ostapenko’s arms, we immediately called the motor ambulance, but the doctors did not take him to the hospital and diagnosed the reason as allergy (?).
Only the next motor ambulance took Ostapenko to the hospital, but it was late. He died of gangrene.
The investigation will show who is guilty, but one is certain: the administration of the preliminary prison did all they could to save Sergey Ostapenko.