Russian assaulted in remand centre had no embassy contact
CBC News | Posted: March 20, 2013 4:55 PM | Last Updated: March 21, 2013
Honorary consul questions why the student beaten in jail had been locked up so long
As two men await trial for viciously beating a Russian student at the Calgary Remand Centre last summer, questions remain about why the man had been there for nearly a month.
Denis Telyakov, 24, was living his dream of learning English in Calgary but it turned into a nightmare after he was arrested on three counts of uttering threats.
It all amounted to a fight over a girl, said Russian journalist Irena Mikeeva.
'To study English, that was his dream, and at this moment he's struggling with his native Russian language.' — Russian journalist Irena Mikeeva
"They were really minor ... it was just a conversation between two guys who were in ESL school, and it was mostly on Facebook," she said.
The charges were dropped after he was allegedly beaten, nearly to death, by two cellmates.
By then, Telyakov had been behind bars for three weeks.
Honorary consul Sergey Timoshenko wants to know how the student could spend nearly a month in jail with no contact with his embassy.
"Nobody, no embassy, not myself in Edmonton, nobody was notified."
Brain damage likely permanent
Calgary police and Alberta's solicitor general said it was up to Telyakov to make the call himself.
Telyakov is now back in Moscow and Mikeeva says the man’s brain damage is likely permanent.
"To study English, that was his dream, and at this moment he's struggling with his native Russian language," she said.
Alberta's solicitor general has recently completed an internal inquiry into Telyakov's beating, but it will not be made public.
Telyakov's sister, Elena Romanova, told CBC News in December her family plans to launch a lawsuit against the remand centre.
Kei Hu Mang and Justin Brett Decoux, former cellmates of Telyakov, were both arrested earlier this year. They both face charges of aggravated assault.