Domodedevo (airport) Policeman will be held responsible

Today was made known the name of the individual whose carelessness, in the opinion of Russian general prosecutor Yuriy Ustinov, destroyed the passengers and crews of the Tu-134 and Tu-154 aircraft. Recall that, according to the findings of a goverment commission, Nagaeva and Dzhebirkhanova together with another two Chechnyans arrived at the capital airport on flight #884 from Makhachkala. The suicide bombers had never flown before, so they were sent by air to Moscow in order that they may acquaint themselves with registration, security, and rules of behavior in airports. Immediately after landing, police officers stopped them, took away their passports and sent them to a police captain who was the airport anti-terrorism operative. There they were to have their belongings searched and be examined for objects which could possibly be used in a terror act. "But the captain let them go without any search," Ustinov said.

The general prosecutor meant thirty year-old Mikhail Artamonov, "Kommersant" writes today. Until recently, he really held the post of anti-terrorism operative (LOVD) of Domodedovo airport. However, very recently he was discharged from service. Furthermore, he is being charged with Article 293 p. 2 UK ("carelessness, entailing human death or other severe consequences"). If found guilty, the operative can be incarcerated for up to five years.

Meanwhile, Artamonov's colleagues are sure of his complete innocence. "Misha was simply the scapegoat. The general prosecutor said that he's guilty, and so it shall be," said one of the LOVD airport operatives to "Kommersant". In his words, it won't matter at all that Artamonov discharged his responsibilities to the end: he examined the Chechnyans' documents and posed the necessary questions. There were no grounds to hold them: their passports were in order, they answered the questions logically and did not get confused. Searching the women, in the LOVD operative's words, was not legal at that point.

Let us recall that after their conversaton with Artamonov, the women rushed to buy tickets from a certain Arutyunov, a long-time ticket scalper. He took from the Chechnyan women in all 5 thousand rubels - 2 thousand from one and 3 thousand from the other. One thousand of this amount was given to an employee of "Sibir" airlines, who was performing registrations for this flight. According to the general prosecutor: "The employee wrote on Dzhebirkhanova's ticket: 'To receive transportation on flight #1047 on 24.08.2004', and the shakhidka (suicide bomber) quietly went to the aircraft." What happened later is well known.

Don't know. But it reminds me of the colonel who was thrown in jail for "murder" in Chechnya, from RBC.ru:

Y. Budanov's Clemency Application is Withdrawn

The clemency application by the former colonel, tank regiment commander Yuriy Budanov, was withdrawn. Budanov for the present remains serving out his sentence in the Ul'yanovsk district prison.
According to NTV television, the decision was made by the district prosecutor's office. Withdrawal of the request was based on the fact that it was incorrectly made, in part because Y. Budanov has still not served half his sentence of incarceration, and because he has yet to completely pay compensation to the victims.
Now the clemency request depends on a decision by Vladimir Shamanov, governor of the Ul'yanovsk district.
Earlier several of the mass media reported that the clemency request was personnally withdrawn by Yuri Budanov.
Recall that former tank regiment commander Y. Budanov was sentenced to ten years for the murder of a 17 year old Chechnyan girl on July 25th, 2003, by the North Caucasus area military court. According to Budanov, the girl was a sniper for the (Chechnyan) fighters. On September 16th, however, the Ul'yanovsk district clemency commission was satisfied with Yuri Budanov's clemency application, and in accordance with the decision of the commission, 40 year old Y. Budanov was freed not just from serving the main sentence, but from others as well. That is, he was to have his rank and military decorations restored.
Budanov's clemency application was signed by Ul'yanovsk district governor Vladimir Shamanov and only needed the signature of Russian president Vladimir Putin to become effective.
We note that information about the possible pardon of Y. Budanov summoned a stormy reaction from the people. Though opinion was divided, a greater number were against the removal of the former colonel's punishment. Most unhappy were those in Chechnya, homeland of the murdered girl. At a meeting today in Grozny a few thousand people assembled to protest against the pardon of Y. Budanov.
According to radio station "Ehkho Moskvy", Chechnyan president Alu Alkhanov received with satisfaction the news that Yuriy Budanov had withdrawn his clemency request.
21.09.2004

Update: from MK

I'll never forgive myself for it!
Police captain Artamonov, who let the suicide bombers board the two destroyed airplanes, now sits in 'Lefortovo'

Policeman Mikhail Artamonov with unidentified persons

The case of the Tu-134 and Tu-154 terror acts now has a third suspect. He is police captain Mikhail Artamonov (the first to be arrested were Sibir airways representative Nikolay Korenkov and the ticket speculator Armen Arutyunov). The policeman is held under guard and is accused of exceeding his official duties. Artamonov, according to Attorney General Ustinov, saw to it that the shakhidki (female suicide bombers) who destroyed the airliners and two of their companions that had flown with them from Makhachkala were let go. Who is policeman Mikhail Artamonov? A hostage of the system, a "switchman", or just an average slovenly bureaucrat? In search of an answer, we went to those who knew the policeman personally.
"When this happened, Mikhail literally turned gray," saids a colleague of the arrested policeman, who asked that his name be withheld. "Artamonov would be quiet for hours, but that day he was beside himself. Misha confessed to us: 'I could have saved them all, hang me, but I'll never forgive myself for this!" On that tragic day Artamanov did not bring the four suspicious characters into the area set up for searching personal property, but let them go, since all the passengers' documents were in order. Misha was too honest - and for his straightforwardness he suffers. It was he who confessed to everything in his report. They fired him on the spot and interior ministry officers placed him under guard as if he was a terrorist!"
Artamonov's mother died when he started 4th grade. His alcoholic father's paternity rights were suspended, and Mikhail and his twin sister were sent to an orphanage in Podmoskovy.
"I can't believe it," pedagogue Nadezhda Ivashkina clutches her chest. "Misha couldn't hurt people, he was quieter than his sister. She was so bright and sly. But Mishka couldn't even lie. He would just frown and keep silent."
"The boy studied well, he wasn't rude to his elders, he didn't go against discipline," Aleksandra Pleshkova entered the conversation. In those days she was the principal.
"He told me everything first," teacher Mikhail Aleksandr Zakharov sighs. "He said: 'Do you know that captain about whom the papers are writing, that's me. Don't believe what you read. I didn't know what they were going to do. Had I known - they wouldn't have gotten any farther. People died, I will never forgive myself.' Misha was for me like my own son. In 1989 Misha left us the same as he came to us - in a thin jacket and mended suit. Everything he got in life, he got it by himself. He very proud of this, and he valued his work..."
One can watch the jet airliners in their landing patterns ever Domodedovo airport from a wing of the old wooden building where Misha Artamonov was born in Belye Stolby. The childhood of Mikhail and his twin sister was tough. Before going to the orphanage, they were brought up by their grandmother Marusya.
"All the blood left my heart when I had to take them to the Dyetdom," baba Manya remembers with tears in her eyes. "My pension was only 60 rubels, and my daughter has been paralyzed since childhood. I couldn't make ends meet! I was especially sorry for Mishka. He was such a quiet, peaceful boy. After the orphanage, he finished the aviation technical institute. Later he served in the army, at an aerodrome in the Totskiy polygon. After that he tried to get on at Domodedovo, but had no luck. Our whole village works there. The head of our local police back then took pity on him and took him to work. And now Misha has been working at the airport for ten years. He got married, but it didn't work out, though he has a daughter Nasten'ka... After the airplanes crashed, he was beside himself, and he came to me and said: 'They want to make me an accessory'. For a few days he was going to interrogations, but later the TV said that he'd been arrested. He called me. 'Baba' he said 'don't believe anyone and tell our relatives that I'm not guilty of anything. I did everything correctly, they'll let me go in a month, they'll get to the bottom of it all and let me go. Remember, I'm not guilty!' Will they really put him in prison?" baba Manya begins to cry. "He's so young, in October his sister and he will be thirty. At least try to help him. I can barely move, and he's our only provider.

Dear readers, we will continue our investigaton. Who are these people who have been accused of terrorism? Are they accessories or really guilty? What do you think about Mikhail Artamonov? We are ready to listen to your opinion on Monday, September 27th, from 11 to 12 Moscow time, call (095) 257-52-27. We also are waiting from calls from anyone who personally knows Sibir airlines worker Nikolay KORENKOV and the arrested man Armen ARUTYUNOV. Call 8-903-755-92-22 or write by email to popov@kp.ru

Aleksandr BOYKO
Andrey KUROCHKIN

The people in the airport want their cuts of what you've got.

I myself once smuggled in a huge suitcase of religious books into the former USSR.

One person in our group was searched. He had some gifts for relatives and I think books. Then the customs told everyone to get their bag from a big pile and open it to see if we had religious books. I said I had a few in my carrry-on and gave them up. The customs people probably kept these to resell.

Then I walked out to the area near the door and "waited for the bus" like I was finished being checked. Other people got their suitcases and gave up their stuff, but they never really lined us up and matched us with our bags. My bag was huge and held dozens of books.

I just waited until they took what people gave up. Then I got my bag and put it on the bus. If they wanted my books, they were going to have to open my bag and steal them.

Of course, I didn't have anything dangerous in my bag. But my observation is that everything was for sale under the Communists. If someone got a little present, he didn't bother you further.

Another Sheremetevo article that doesn't rate it's own post, but was too interesting to pass up. From Komsomol'skaya Pravda

04 October 2004

For 500 bucks he promised to get soldiers out of Chechnya
Border officer extorted money from a soldier

The draftee from frontier control unit 'Moskva' had a dilemma. The fellow had been serving at dustless Sheremetevo airport until he received depressing news about a transfer to the Stavropol region - one can just reach out and touch Chechnya from there. Quite unexpectedly, Lieutenant Colonel Aleksandr Gasenko, an officer from the unit, offered his services. For 500 dollars the officer promised to ensure the soldier's transfer to a more decent locale, otherwise, he threatened, the soldier would end up at the Checnyan border unit. The soldier told everything to his father and asked him to get the money. The soldier's father, however, went to the police.
Gasenko was arrested, as is usual in such cases, during the money transfer. When the lieutenant colonel was searched, he had in his possession five specially marked hundred-dollar bills. The criminal case was transferred to the military prosecutor's office.

Sergey Gerasimenko

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