"They insisted on an investigation in a general manner": what is known about the criminal case against the father of the sisters Khachaturian

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against the deceased Mikhail Khachaturian under three articles.

This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to a lawyer involved in the process.  

“A criminal case was opened against Khachaturian under Part 3 of Art.

132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Violent acts of a sexual nature" Art.

133 “Coercion to acts of a sexual nature” and Art.

117 "Torture" - said the agency's interlocutor on condition of anonymity.

The Investigative Committee of Russia did not comment on the criminal case against Khachaturian.

As RT found out, the investigation of the criminal case was initiated by Mikhail's relatives, who want to achieve his rehabilitation. 

“We ourselves initiated the cancellation of the decision to refuse to initiate proceedings on the fact of sexual violence.

There is no official information on the initiation of a criminal case from the Investigative Committee.

We, as representatives of the injured party, have not been notified of this either.

This may be due to the fact that the pre-investigation period is 30 days, it will expire in the coming days, "Olga Khalikova, a lawyer for the relatives, told RT.

The case of the Khachaturian sisters

Earlier, RT told the story of the Krestina sisters, Angelina and Marina Khachaturyan, accused of the murder of their father Mikhail Khachaturyan under clause "g" of Part 2 of Art.

105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Murder committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy").

According to the investigation, since 2015, minors at that time, girls have repeatedly been subjected to physical, psychological and sexual violence from their father.

In a fit of rage, the man could brutally beat the girls.

Also, the investigators found that the deceased sometimes used pneumatic weapons.

Unable to withstand the bullying of his father, the girls killed him. 

After the arrest, the sisters spent some time in a pre-trial detention center.

Later, they changed the measure of restraint to "a ban on certain actions."

At the same time, the youngest of the sisters, Maria, was declared insane by the court.

The materials on the criminal cases of the Khachaturian sisters were submitted to the court in July 2020.

On February 1, 2021, the Moscow City Court returned the files of the older sisters to the prosecutor's office. 

"Check on three articles"

According to the lawyer of the Khachaturian sisters, Alexei Liptser, the Moscow City Court indicated that it is impossible to judge the girls without a final decision regarding their father.

He also explained that it was decided to initiate the case against the murdered man due to the fact that the relatives of Mikhail Khachaturian, after almost two years of investigation, finally gave their consent to this.

“Earlier, the investigation issued an order to refuse to initiate proceedings against Mikhail in connection with his death, but this was not a rehabilitating order, which actually established his involvement in crimes against girls.

After the case against the sisters was submitted to the court, the relatives appealed against this decision and submitted an application for consent to initiate a case, '' the lawyer told RT.

According to him, the pre-investigation check was previously carried out under Articles 117 (torture), 132 (violent acts of a sexual nature) and 133 (compulsion to acts of a sexual nature) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

According to Liptser, at the end of 2019, before the first return of the case for further investigation by the prosecutor's office, the examinations carried out in the case established serious harm to the health of three girls as a result of crimes committed against them by Mikhail.

“The victims expect to prove his innocence within the framework of the criminal case initiated against Mikhail, after which they will insist on transferring the case against the girls to court, excluding the previous motive for committing the crime - the criminal actions of the father,” Alexey Liptser explained the reason.

According to the lawyer, the measure of restraint for the sisters remained the same - the prohibition of certain actions, including a ban on communication with each other and access to the Internet.

Further possible indulgences will already depend on the investigator in the case.

Now the case is in the prosecutor's office and, according to Liptser, in connection with the criminal case against Khachaturian, it will be returned to the preliminary investigation stage.

In turn, the lawyer of the injured party, Olga Khalikova, in an interview with RT, said what examinations she would declare after the initiation of a criminal case. 

“The Investigative Committee has not provided any evidence of sexual violence.

The defense insisted that our complaint be denied.

We insisted on a general criminal investigation.

Therefore, if the Investigative Committee initiates a case, we will already declare expert examinations, including a sex-psychiatric one, which could indicate that there was no sexual violence.

We will insist that the correct procedural decision be made to refuse to initiate a case on exonerating grounds - due to the absence of a crime event, ”- Olga Khalikova, lawyer of the injured party.