Watchdog

An Armenian law enforcement body investigating the suspicious death of a man in police custody has moved closer to endorsing police claims that his death was the result of a suicide, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.

The Special Investigative Service (SIS) said in a written statement on May 14 that forensic experts have concluded that Vahan Khalafian, a resident of the central town of Charentsavan, may have stabbed himself to death at the local police station on April 13.

Khalafian and several other young men were detained that day by police on suspicion of stealing 1.5 million drams ($3,900) worth of goods from a local entrepreneur. The 24-year-old was found dead several hours later.

The police, and Armenian police chief Alik Sarkisian in particular, claimed he was not ill-treated during the interrogation and committed suicide, denying torture allegations made by Khalafian's family based on wounds they say were found on his body.

The SIS questioned the police version of events by arresting two policemen and charging them with torture.

Sarkisian admitted later in April that he had misled the public about the scandalous case, saying he himself was "deceived" by subordinates into believing that Khalafian was not beaten in detention.

Still, the police chief insisted that Khalafian killed himself with a kitchen knife kept in a policeman's drawer.

In the final report cited by the SIS, state forensic investigators who examined Khalafian's body said they found two stab wounds on his abdomen.

They said the nature of those wounds and their "anatomic location" suggested that "their infliction by V. Khalafian upon himself is possible."

The experts also found numerous other injuries on his body. But they said none of those were life-threatening.

That Khalafian sustained two knife wounds was earlier reported by members of his family and Artur Sakunts, a human rights activist investigating his death.

They believe he could not have stabbed himself twice and was simply tortured to death.

The forensic experts said in that regard only one of the stab wounds is likely to have been deadly.

A Moscow judge has resigned after a court ruled her decision to extend the detention of a woman who later died in prison was illegal, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

Judge Olga Makarova resigned on May 13, one day after a Moscow regional court concluded that keeping Vera Trifonova in jail until July 16 had been unlawful.

Trifonova, 53, died of heart failure in the medical ward of a Moscow pretrial detention center on April 30. The businesswoman suffered from severe diabetes and kidney problems.

Trifonova, the head of a real estate company, was arrested in December and charged with fraud. She was accused of offering to help two bankers gain seats in the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, in return for some $1.5 million. Trifonova insisted she was innocent of the charges.

On May 5, several members of Russia's Public Chamber, a state oversight body, demanded that Makarova be stripped of her judgeship.

Trifonova's lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, told RFE/RL that the pretrial detention center at which Trifonova was held lacked the necessary medical equipment to treat her health problems.

"The [police] investigator is guilty, detention center head Fikret Tagiev, and Judge Makarova -- who authorized and three times prolonged the detention of Trifonova -- are all guilty," Zherebenkov said. "All of this occurred despite the fact that there was medical testimony made that said pretrial restrictions were not admissible...they killed her knowing there was medical testimony [against keeping her in detention]."

On May 5 Sergei Pysin, the lead investigator in Trifonova's fraud case, was charged by authorities with negligence. But Zherebenkov said this is not enough and wants him also charged with abuse of office because he knew of her medical conditions.

Sergei Magnitsky, an anticorruption lawyer for Hermitage Capital Management, died in the same detention center on November 16. His death caused outrage in Russia and abroad.

Hermitage Capital Management CEO William Browder has been trying to prosecute those responsible for Magnitsky's death, and a U.S. congressman recently suggested that Washington revoke the visas of some 60 Russian officials he said are connected to Magnitsky's death.

In the aftermath of Magnitsky's death, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev dismissed 20 leading prison officials and called for an overhaul of the penal system. Moreover, he signed a law designed to reduce penalties for economic crimes.

Human rights activist Valery Borshov told RFE/RL that his organization has recently sent a letter to Medvedev, the prosecutor-general, and the head of the Supreme Court.

"In the letter we assert that no conclusions were drawn from Magnitsky's tragedy and this is exactly the reason why Trifonova's tragedy could happen," Borshov said.

Rights activist Aleksandr Brod, who is a member of the Public Chamber, noted the figures provided by the Prosecutor-General's Office who stated that more than 4,000 people had died in penitentiaries and some 500 in pretrial detention centers in Russia in 2009.

"[The prosecutor's office] does not give the reasons for the deaths, but it is very obvious that, among others, they are due to torture, abominable conditions, and abuse," Brod said.