November 02, 2015
I have finally been able to communicate with my son after
not being allowed to see him for the last 4 months and I have finally heard my
son's side of the story. In contradiction to all of the insults and statements
made to me by the lead investigator in the case, Daria Romanovna Fedina, I am
convinced now more than ever that my son is innocent.
After finally hearing my son’s side of the story many things
have become very clear and in my mind many of the actions of those involved
have now gone from being simply heartless inhumane acts to part of a criminal
conspiracy. As the criminal conspiracy involves people under the color of
authority who have absolutely no conscience, I am placing myself in an
extremely dangerous and risky position in speaking out for my son.
Upon hearing my son’s side of the story it is clear why the
lead investigator did not allow me to visit him for the last 4 months and why I
am not being allowed to see him now. How we finally were able to communicate I
will not get into but I will add that my attempts to actually visit him are
being stopped by the larger series of events that is destroying my family and I.
On October 29, 2015 I posted that my son would be sentenced at
the Kuzminky Rayone Sud at 15:00 for a crime he did not commit. After
consulting with attorneys I attended the hearing which was conducted very
professionally and my son was allowed to speak to my lawyer. Unfortunately he
was being advised to plead guilty so as to not anger the court and the
prosecutors. In the Russian legal system the state has the upper hand with
regard to every aspect and burden of proof lies with the accused who does not
enjoy what is called the presumption of innocence.
Without the presumption of innocence or the right to face
accusers or even see the material against one and with the only evidence
accepted being that which is properly presented on paper and accepted by the
court, for the accused there is almost no way to be declared innocent or prove
one innocence.
The worst part is that even though the court is supposed to take
oral argument into consideration, the laws in Russia are written in such a way
that judges have almost no leeway and are forced to only abide by written evidence
even if it is known the written evidence is false. Being as such there is no
justice except for those who know how to properly submit documents.
Being as the prosecutors and “investigators” know all of the
nuances, manipulate the language, control the entire process and only some
lawyers are adept enough to fight them at their own peril, someone such as
myself with no finances, almost no knowledge of the system and language
difficulties, does not have a snowball’s chance in hell of proving innocence.
The fact of innocence alone is not enough because the burden
of proof is on the accused and the actual process works with the presumption of
guilt. That is not the fault of the judges or even the judiciary but a key
fault in the way the system was designed. Here it is important to note little
has changed since Soviet Times.
The fact that a jury trial is a rare exception and even a
tribunal of three judges is almost unheard of makes things even worse. Basically
the system has one judge and one prosecutor with defense attorneys only allowed
a small amount of room to defend their clients.
Given the complete and utter rigidity of the system,
something that is designed into it to not allow for corruption but which in and
of itself also does not allow for justice, it almost impossible to defend
oneself or to change anything. Unlike US court there is no “precedent” no
arguments and no citing case law. There is also no leeway for the Judge. Unlike
US courts where the Judge literally has the role of God, Russian Judges are in
a position where they are almost Rubber stamps for the state. This is bad for
Russia and for Russian citizens and bad for us even more.
Given all of the above there is no chance that any kind of
media attention will affect the outcome but I must try to raise support for my
son and more importantly I must try to raise funds for his defense because we
do not even have a lawyer. Therefore the reason for this posting is gather
support and not an attempt to sway the court as the court is completely and
totally unswayable regardless of my son’s innocence or not. This is wrong but
this is the system we have. There is no Habeus Corpus and again burden of proof
lies with accused.
On October 31, 2015 I posted on my Blog at www.jar2.com that new information proving John’s
innocence was discovered and that my son had pleaded innocent on the 29th to
the charges against him. His next hearing is scheduled for the 12th of November
and now we desperately need your support to try to find funds for a defense and
for perhaps any witnesses who were there on that night or know of the
machinations inside the police department and are brave enough to come forward.
In brief this is what happened to my son: On the night of
July 7, 2015 the son of jar2.com owner, John Robles III was arrested on very
serious charges after being set up by a known drug addict and police informant
who was arrested the previous day. Earlier we had been told by investigators that
it had been earlier in the evening.
The drug addict whose surname is Lebedev and who had been
arrested at least 6 times previously and was set free each time by “giving
someone else to the police” was told that he would be let go if he gave someone
up.
An investigator in the police station asked Lebedev if he “knew
John Robles” and told Lebedev he would be freed if he could help them get John.
Lebedev then wrote a false police report (which we have not been allowed to see)
blaming John for supplying the narcotics he had been arrested for (a complete
lie) and the operation to entrap John was set up the next day.
John’s only crime was in trusting people he thought were
friends and in youthful stupidity as is clear by the new evidence we have
obtained.
Someone who knew the addict knew that one Sergey Chustakov
had access to and in fact sold the narcotics that the addict was using. Sergey
Chustakov was apparently high at the time and unable to drive so John was
called in by an unknown person apparently named Sasha. They knew John would do
anything to help his friends, however unbeknownst to John he was needed to
facilitate the freedom of the addict.
Here the details are not clear as to how exactly the meeting
was set up or where all of the parties were at the time but it is clear that
John drove the actual source for the narcotics, Chusakov to the meeting. He apparently
buys his narcotics from a laboratory located somewhere near Teply Stan Metro or
in Lubertsy, information given by me to police who have done nothing about it.
Сергей Викторович
Чурсакова, 89261997280, г. Бронницы, ул. Строительная, д. 15, кВ. 93
Earlier it was believed that John had actually passed
something to Lebedev as the investigator said but this is not the case as we
have learned. John needed some money for his girlfriend and was told that
Lebedev would loan him 2,000 rubles. All he had to do was drive Chusakov there
so that they could discuss some “business”.
Lebedev walked up to the car when John pulled and handed
John the money at which time he was arrested. In reality there was no transfer
whatsoever of any quantity of narcotics. However other parties present did have
narcotics but John was singled out specifically and none of the other four
people in the care were targeted or arrested.
John cooperated with police and admitted he behaved in a
wrong manner by driving Chusakov there not understanding the real seriousness
of the charges and the police declared this as an admission of guilt.
Now he is facing 8 years in Russian Prison Zone where there
is high probability he will die. Eight years in a country where murders regularly
get 4 year sentences.
Other points:
1. Shortly before my son's arrest he posted a message on his
social media asking the question: "What if Russia, like China, also
sentenced to death 10,000 bribe taking corrupt officials?"
2. He filed previous complaints to the highest level against
a previous attempt to set him up that we were lucky to obtain video of. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GZJnW5myDI
3. I am still not being allowed to contact him.
4. We are being repeatedly told that no one will believe us
by all parties involved.
5. We have not been allowed to see the evidence against him
which no one has seen and we have not been allowed to form any kind of proper
defense.
6. The US Embassy has been allowed to see him more than
three times so far and is only interested in obtaining information about me.
7. He will apparently be sentenced on the 12th
and there is still no way we can formulate a proper defense.
8. His detention was politically motivated and he
specifically targeted due to his refugee status and his former US citizenship.
9. John has renounced his US citizenship.
10. Police and official are continuously telling him and me
that no one needs us and no one will believe us and that we must not fight or
the judge and the court will get angry and treat us more harshly. I am being
pressured on multiple fronts to be silent and just let them take my son.
Obviously I am not being silent and this will probably lead to me being “arrested”
or outright killed.
11. At first we were told the whole thing could go away for
9 million.
12. Later it was learned that an unidentified police officer
told John that everything could go away for 2 million rubles.
I am trying to help my son. I am not an animal and cannot
just ignore what has happened to him. We are fighting real corruption and are
completely isolated and on our own.
I am sure that given John’s refugee status, and that of our
family, his treatment has violated international law with regard to false
arrest and numerous statutes which are supposed to protect the rights of
refugees.
We cannot seek protection from the United States Government
as we have asylum from the US. We are completely and totally vulnerable and our
only defense is getting this news out to you.
We ask you to spread this story as much as possible.
Thank you,
John Anthony Robles II
Posted November 11, 2015
