Ulman case: shooting six may be unpunished in Russia

Moscow's Independent press center hosted a news conference titled Crime without Punishment on Friday, May 14. The conference was called on the occasion of the court verdict returned in the so-called Ulman case on May 11. The verdict in respect of officers Ulman, Kalaganskii, Perelevskii and ensign Voevodin who killed six civilians in the Shatoi district, Chechnya, in January 2002 was not guilty. The military men's allegedly acting against their own will, but obeying their orders served as an extenuating circumstance. The following people came to the Independent press center to meet journalists: Magomed Gandarov, lawyer of the injured party; Jalil Satabaev, the brother of one of the killed people; Svetlana Gannushkina, a member of the board of the Memorial Human Rights Center and a member of the Commission on Human Rights for the Russian president; Oleg Orlov, chairman of the board of the Memorial Human Rights Center; and Valentine Gefter, director of the Human Rights Institute.

The members of the press conference tried to give a valuation to the Ulman case, look into the situation both in terms of morals and in terms of law. Thus, it is not absolutely clear why the case was heard in Rostov-on-Don, not in Chechnya, for example, or in some other region where it would be given a more objective hearing. In this respect, it is noteworthy that two jurors asked to exempt them from participation in the hearing because they thought they would not be able to stay unbiased. All the rest may just not have mentioned it. By the way, they all were ethnic Russians. The lawyer of the injured party, Magomed Gandarov, is currently going to appeal against the decision of the Rostov court to the North Caucasus Military Court. What remains is just to wait for the minutes of the hearing. This time, there will be no jury.

All the members of the news conference unanimously expressed their disagreement with the court's verdict which actually confirms the following: one can shoot six people dead in this country and remain unpunished - absolutely officially at that. After all, there were orders, and the defendants just obeyed them. Accidentally, no one remembered that orders do not exempt one from liability for obeying them if they contradict the law. Government in this country protects only institutions, not people, Svetlana Gannushkina said. By the way, each of the defendants is still on service. One of them was awarded the Order of Courage by decree of the president a month after the incident in the Shatoi district.

Editors note: See also the article "Press conference on 'Ulman's case' to be held in Moscow".