Activist Akhmedova describes first visit to Investigative Committee

Primorye activist Margarita Akhmedova, who took her daughter from a rehabilitation center because she was illegally seized, was verbally informed of the child«s seizure at the Nadezhdinsky District Investigative Committee. In an interview with VLADIVOSTOK1.RU, she said that all her belongings were taken, she was left without money, and she was threatened that the child would be taken away permanently; due to the stress, the woman sought medical help.

«Before that, they tried to give me a resolution that said how bad I was and how I was interfering with the investigation, that I didn«t show up for some summons. Apparently, when they needed to conduct investigative actions in Baranovsky, they were looking for me. The next day we arrived, they took us in the morning to the investigative department, took my phone and backpack with documents, cards, and money, swore at me and asked where I was, why I didn»t answer calls», — explained Margarita.

At the Investigative Committee, they gave her summonses — she had to come there every day for questioning. But she had to travel about an hour by train, at a time when all her belongings, including her wallet and cards, had already been seized.

«I tried to borrow money from people, called them from other people«s phones, said I couldn»t get there. Later, I found the child«s piggy bank at home, shook it out, took the money and came. I filed a complaint that I was left without money, but it wasn»t considered, they said that I allegedly ignored them, and accused me of not showing up, even though correspondence with the investigators was ongoing. At that moment, they wanted to schedule a psychological-psychiatric examination for the child, but they said they allegedly couldn«t find us, and claimed that I didn»t undergo a medical examination, although later, when they specified a date, we came for it. In the end, we did it, but in the resolution they lied that we didn«t do it», — the woman stated.

The resolution that Margarita eventually received, according to her, was called «On deprivation of the right to represent the child«s interests in a criminal case». She noted that she studied information about the document and concluded that the wording does not mean the child»s seizure, but simply that a person is needed who will go to court with her. But the girl was still taken and sent to a rehabilitation center in Artyom.

«I asked on what basis they were taking my child, and they gave me this resolution. What does this have to do with it, when there should be reasons why the child is being completely seized? In general, citing the document from January 27, they started seizing the child without providing any paperwork. I only found out later that there should be a seizure act, where, as I understand, it should be indicated until when the child is seized, but all this was done verbally, and the investigator said that the child is seized until the end of the investigative actions. We exchanged glances, and I told Masha that she had a children«s camp for a month. She was happy, but when it dragged on, she became uninterested there, she realized that something was wrong.

As a result, the girl spent 9 months in the rehabilitation center; in the mother«s opinion, she was sent there and held illegally. There was no threat to the child»s life, the man accused of violent actions was already in a pre-trial detention center, and the investigative actions ended in February–March. The child continued to be away from her mother until October.

Margarita immediately started writing complaints and looking for legal ways to get her daughter back. But when that didn«t work, she came to her school and simply took her home.

«I decided that I would file a complaint and appeal all this in court. I immediately went to do it, and when I was studying the papers, it dawned on me that the document about the ban on participation in Masha«s criminal case doesn»t concern her. All procedural norms were violated there. They didn«t allow us to see each other. All relatives were allowed, except me. They said that I allegedly have a bad influence on the child, exert some pressure, but what kind of pressure could there be? The child sat for 9 months in the center, and no investigative actions were conducted with him, for what purposes he sat there for 9 months, I don»t know», — the woman concluded.

Margarita Akhmedova became the heroine of a high-profile story last month. On October 6, she «snatched» her daughter from an orphanage in Artyom, and later published a video in which she stated that her child was being held in the institution. After that, they hid from law enforcement for two weeks.

When the video appeared online, the Investigative Committee stated that the 7-year-old girl was placed in a rehabilitation center because her stepfather committed violent sexual acts against her, and it was the mother who initiated sending her daughter to the orphanage. At the same time, the department clarified that the woman had previously been deprived of parental rights and she has two older children over whom she does not have custody, and Margarita was also accused of obstructing investigative actions.

People who know Margarita believed that she was being pressured through her child because of her active civic position. Her like-minded person Elina Davydova said that the woman was among the Primorye residents who spoke out against the construction of a waste sorting landfill in Nadezhdinsky District. Municipal Duma deputy Oleg Grigoryev clarified that the mother of the missing girl often interacted with him, demanded the resignation of the head of Nadezhdinsky District, and generally fought for the rights of the population.

Read the full analysis of the high-profile story via the link, and all materials on the topic can be read in a special feature.