‘No one catches terrorists like that’: Novaya Gazeta reveals alleged police scheme aimed at fabricating felony cases against migrants in Moscow

The independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta claims to have uncovered a scheme in which Moscow police are fabricating dozens of misdemeanor charges, in order to implicate the accused in more serious criminal cases. As a rule, the alleged scheme appears to target migrants, who are picked up by police for petty offenses, jailed, and later indicted on felony charges -- usually, for alleged terrorism. Novaya Gazeta's journalists identified 11 cases that follow the same pattern, along with five defendants who are already serving time in prison as a result. Though this investigation was only based on data from court rulings in Moscow, Novaya Gazeta plans to continue its reporting, in order to determine if similar schemes are taking place in other parts of the country. Original Article: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2021/10/22/no-one-catches-terrorists-like-that