Two Volgograd residents who brutally murdered their friend Vlad Tornovoi on May 9, 2013, after he allegedly came out to them as gay, were sentenced to substantial imprisonment terms. The press service of the Volgograd Regional Court confirmed it on July, 2. Earlier this month LGBT activists and their allies drew attention to the absence of any information about the trial, which ended a week ago, as well as the fact that the court apparently did not find the actions of murderers to contain a hate motive, instead, they were convicted with a robbery.
As the Volgograd Regional Court told Novie Izvestia newspaper, murderers of Vladislav Tornovoi incur serious punishment: previously convicted Anton Smolin, 27 was sent to prison for 21 years and two months, and Alexei Burkov, 22 sentenced to 19 years in prison and two years of limitation of freedom.
“Straight Alliance for LGBT Equality” activists in their open letter have expressed concern about the lack of any information about the outcome of the trial, which ended a week ago. The offical case webpage on the Volgograd regional court website noted that the sentence was read on June, 24 and 26 , there are Criminal Code articles listed, under which Burkov and Smolin were convicted, but no information on the imprisonment terms was published.
Last publication in the media about the Tornovoi case dates back to December, 13 last year, when the court held a preliminary meeting, while the trial itself was held behind closed doors. Prosecutors and lawyers did not publicly comment on the situation, and the family of the deceased ignored the trial. “They were troubled by the fact that the topic of alleged homosexuality of the deceased was announced, and they denied this,” say in the organization. “The latest information in the media refers to the time of the trial. Then everything died away, the journalists have forgotten about the case. Apparently, someone was profitable of all this silence, [they] did not like the publicity,” “Straight Alliance” coordinator Natalia Tsymbalova explained.
The activists also point out that the investigation and trial probably did not consider the homophobic motive. Burkov and Smolin were convicted with provisions “d” and “g” of Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code “Murder by a group of persons with special cruelty”, whereas hatred or enmity to a social group is mentioned in provision “l”. “Unfortunately, this fits into the Russian law enforcement practices to not recognize LGBT as a social group,” the letter says. In addition, Anton Smolin was also convicted under Part 1 of Article 162 “Banditry”, the presence of which, as stated in the letter, “is very strange.” “It seemed like there was no mention of theft as a goal for the assault whatsoever. What belongings could Vlad’s boon companions steal from him, the clothes they tore during the bullying? “, the activists wrote.
In an interview to “Argumenti i Fakty Volgograd” newspaper public prosecutor Roman Boldyrev said that the real reason for Tornovoi’s murder was “because of an unsettled debt “. “The amount was small. We need to keep in mind that they all were intoxicated on the evening when the murder was commited”, Boldyrev added. However he did confirm that the murderers mentioned Tornovoi’s “liaison with a man”.
Vladislav Tornovoi, 23 was killed on the night of 9 to 10 May last year in Krasnoarmeysky district of Volgograd. After the celebration of Victory Day, three young men were drinking beer on the bench, and during the conversation Tornovoi allegedly confessed to his sexual orientation, and then his companions started to torture him brutally. In addition to beating, the young man was cut with a broken glass bottle, and then they put a neck of the bottle into his anus. The killers tried to burn the body of unconscious Tornovoi, but they did not succeed. Then they smashed his head with cobblestones.
The fact that Tornovoi was actually a gay man was not confirmed by his relatives and friends. It is also unknown for sure whether he really confessed his sexual orientation to the murderers. Information on his orientation was voiced only by Smolin: on the investigator’s question about the reasons of his action, he replied: “Because he said he was a homo.” Tornovoi’s mother stated that Smolin lied, hoping that homophobic motive would be recognized as a mitigating circumstance, and Tornovoi’s father told reporters that he threatened the investigator for going public with this information.
While the parents of the deceased have aimed to “defend the honor of their son,” people began to devote public events and social networking pages to Tornovoi’s memory. International organization Human Rights Watch demanded a fair investigation, and Elton John dedicated his concert in Moscow on December 6 to the victim.
Source – Queer Russia
