The first accused in the case of the Symbol of Life children's rehabilitation center were arrested in Kazan, where minors were bullied. A criminal case under the article "incitement to suicide" was initiated a year ago at the request of a Muscovite Natalya Fadeeva. Her 15-year-old son was at the center for nine months at that time. The woman intends to seek punishment for all those responsible. In an interview with RT, she said that the same center under a different name had already opened in Gelendzhik.
The Novo-Savinovskiy District Court of Kazan arrested Elizaveta Platonova and Dmitry Chernyshev, employees of the Symbol of Life rehabilitation center. They chose a preventive measure in the form of detention for 1 month and 28 days. The director of the center Platonov and the manager of the farm Chernyshev are suspected of driving the teenager Denis Fadeev to suicide.
Earlier, RT said that a criminal case under paragraph "a" of part 2 of Article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was initiated on July 19, 2018 at the request of a Muscovite Natalya Fadeeva. The woman had her 15-year-old son Daniel in the rehabilitation center. When she found out that the children were being bullied at the institution, she immediately took the child home. As Danya himself later told RT, they were doused with cold water, fed poorly, they were not given meat, they were allowed to sleep only for 2-3 hours, and the most guilty could be sent to an adult drug addiction center for several days. Because of this treatment, Danya, after a couple of weeks, began to think about settling scores with life.
"They looked like she was crazy"
Natalya Fadeeva recalls that initially, when she found out about what was happening in the "Symbol of Life" and tried to unite with other parents, she did not find understanding from them.
“They all looked at me like I was crazy. The staff of the center assured that competitors sent me to ruin the institution's reputation. Then the parents took the children away. After some time, when the children stopped being afraid, they told their parents what a nightmare was going on there,”says Fadeeva.
According to her, this greatly facilitated the work of the investigators, since the accusation was no longer based only on her words. According to the children, Chernyshev was the very person who poured ice water on the children from a hose. The status of both officers changed from witnesses to defendants on 22 May.
“Moreover, both consider themselves innocent. At the trial, Platonova's parents argued that "Liza loves children and did nothing of the sort." Only other staff at the center describe how she calmly ate meat until the children finished eating and ate empty pasta or rice. Chernyshev, an alcoholic in a tie, has three children. When I asked him, “Would you do that to your children?” He cried,”Fadeeva says.
The woman also added that in an attempt to prove their innocence, the defendants passed a polygraph test. According to the woman, the results were far from what the leaders of the center expected.
"Any punishment will not be enough"
At the moment, Alexei Lebedev and Hrair Khacheryan are also witnesses in the case. According to the children, the men were not employees of the center and were friends of Platonova. They talked about their experience in combating drug addiction and carried out "educational measures", shouted at the guys and swore a lot.
As a law enforcement source told RT, a court hearing is planned in the near future, at which one of them may be transferred to the category of the accused and a measure of restraint will be chosen.
“We have evidence against Lebedev, but we cannot say anything about Khacheryan yet,” the source said.
Fadeeva believes that Lebedev in this case is trying to prove the existence of mitigating circumstances, according to which he can avoid punishment.
“During the investigation, he got married and now he is about to have a child. I don't think it happened by accident. In any case, I will go to the end and will seek punishment for all those responsible. Just for what they did to my son, any sentence will not be enough,”said Dani's mother.
Another center
As Fadeeva told RT, after publicity in the media, Platonova sold this business, and the same rehabilitation center, only with a different name, opened in Gelendzhik.
“They changed the name, but the site is the same in style, even the reviews from the“Symbol of Life”are still there. I think that children are already being sent there and I suspect that they are being "brought up" in the same way. I immediately started telling other parents about it,”the woman says. At the moment this site has stopped working.
“I will fight with such centers and, it seems, I will never be able to stop doing it. There were 24 children in our center, and now we all communicate - together we were sincerely happy about the arrest of Platonova and Chernyshev. But the psyche of children is spoiled. Morally they are all depressed and feel disgusting. They say that they will not be able to forget it,”says Fadeeva.
The woman claims that all the children have dropped out of secondary special education, and only those who have not finished school continue to study. As his mother says, Danya often leaves home, loves to be alone and refuses to consult a psychologist, claiming that he does not need help.
The regional IC could not promptly confirm Fadeeva's information about the current stage of the investigation.
