In case of Murat Borlakov's death, expert reports damage to hard drives with ROVD video records

The hard drives containing video records from the surveillance cameras of the Ust-Djeguta ROVD (District Interior Division), depicting the circumstances of the death of Murat Borlakov, have been obtained for examination with mechanical damage. This was reported by forensic expert questioned at the trial.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 3, 2014, Murat Borlakov, a resident of Karachay-Cherkessia, died at the Ust-Djeguta ROVD an hour after his detention. According to the testimonies given by the people detained together with him, Murat Borlakov was tortured. A number of policemen and staff members of the criminal investigation department were charged of abuse of power and infliction of grievous bodily harm that resulted in the death of a detainee by negligence.

At the court hearing held on July 7, the court questioned one of the two forensic experts, who conducted in Rostov-on-Don the computer expertise of the video records from the surveillance cameras of the Ust-Djeguta ROVD. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by advocate Pavel Misharin, who represented the interests of the victim party.

"The expert has confirmed the incompleteness of the examination conducted by him and his colleague, since they detected the mechanical damage to the hard drives, proving that the interference from outside took place," reported the advocate.

The hard drives could be damaged intentionally. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Alexander Galitsky, the technical director of the "DATARC", one of the Russia's largest data recovery centres.

"If no intentional actions to damage the data took place, then the chances for recovery are very good. If the intentional actions actually took place, then even we with our 16-year experience could not give a guarantee for recovery of the data," Alexander Galitsky has stated.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.