Aleksandr Litreev struggled to accept the beating he received recently. Russian officials had taken a bag of MDMA out of his vehicle, and were accusing him of being its owner.
Litreev had flown home to his country just a day earlier, in front of a crowd. His vehicle was surrounded by more then ten vehicles containing armed military police as it traveled from the airport to the hotel.
Litreev was subject to a body check, but the situation quickly deteriorated after he refused to answer his phone to the authorities. The officers then beat Litreev to death. The drug pack appeared shortly after he was taken to the local police headquarters.
Litreev was taken into custody in mid-2020 on additional charges of hate speech, extremism and possession foreign records. Litreev claims that these charges are fabricated, just like the original charge.
He knew that his situation was dire, considering that only 0.2% of those who had been in Russian courts the year before were acquitted. He was held at home while awaiting trial but was able establish contact with the Estonian consulate. The staff helped him cross the Narva-Ivangorod frontier. Litreev refused to provide any details out of fear that he might endanger the people who helped him escape.
Litreev was a Russian specialist’s objective because of events that took place many years before.