The verdict of the Istra City Court against one of the organizers of an illegal boarding house, where 9 people were burned alive in May 2024, has come into force. Four more defendants await their fate – their cases have been split into separate proceedings.
© Eva Merkacheva
As MK knows, the first person to be put on trial was Muzaffarkhon Mirtozaev, who signed a pre-trial agreement with the investigation. In his homeland, in Uzbekistan, he received higher education in law and then went to Russia to earn money. In the Moscow region, Muzaffarkhon signs contracts to find houses for foreign citizens to live in – mainly workers of the OZON warehouse in the urban district of Istrinisky. A suitable three-story house without furniture and sleeping quarters was found in the village of Padikovo. Mirtozaev was engaged in furnishing the house, purchasing bunk beds, bath equipment, kitchen utensils and other equipment. However, in the dormitory there are no fire alarms or fire extinguishers. Migrants said there were a total of 16 sleeping places, some even had to lie on the floor. Serious violations of fire safety regulations led to tragedy on the night of May 23, 2024. Some people did not turn off the stove, the dishes caught fire and the fire spread to the furniture. Nine citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan died in the fire, another Kyrgyz woman was injured and hospitalized.
The Main Investigation Department of the Moscow Regional Investigative Committee charged Mirtozaev under two articles of the Criminal Code – “organizing illegal stay of foreign citizens in Russia” and “providing services that did not meet security requirements, leading to the death of two or more people”. The court took into account the fact that the migrant cooperated with the investigation and sentenced him to 3 years in prison in the colony of the general regime. He did not appeal the verdict.