The investigator is not your friend, or practical advice during interrogation

I. Preparation
Interrogation is an investigative (detective) action aimed at obtaining testimony from a person who has information relevant to the criminal offense under investigation.
Interrogation can be characterized as the process of transferring information about the criminal offense under investigation, related circumstances and people. This information comes to the interrogated person at the moment of perception of certain phenomena or objects, is memorized and then reproduced during interrogation and passed on to the investigator.

It should be noted that according to the CPC, the prosecutor and investigator (investigating judge, court) are authorized to interrogate a witness. The prosecutor and the investigator also have the right to issue a separate interrogation order to an operational officer. In the absence of such an order, interrogation by operatives is illegal.

Interrogators always use the tactic of establishing psychological contact with the person being interrogated, and therefore, you should be carefully prepared, in particular, psychologically.

Before going to the interrogation, you need to calm down and set yourself up for a positive mood, as an elevated emotional state and nervousness are your enemy.

The interrogator always starts with "life communication": about the circumstances of your personal life, your mood, your state of affairs in order to establish and understand what interrogation tactics to apply to you.

You should also not respond to the person interrogating you with sympathy, as this will make you lose your vigilance, which will be used against you.

You should model the situation in your head in advance and calculate the possible questions of the person conducting the interrogation and your answers to them. If you find it difficult to prepare on your own, it is better to seek legal assistance from a lawyer.

You should bring a notebook and pen to the interrogation so that you can record your answers to the relevant questions.

II. The interrogation process.

• Identify the person who will conduct your interrogation and verify his or her credentials. If an operative (not an investigator or prosecutor) tries to interrogate you and he or she cannot present a written order from the investigator (prosecutor) to conduct this particular investigative action with you, you must indicate this in the protocol and inform the person about the end of the interrogation.
• Take a position of equality. Do not allow the person interrogating you to dominate you.
• Prepare a notebook to write down your answers to the interrogator's questions.
• find out how the interrogation will be recorded. If such recording will be done with the help of technical means, their technical characteristics should be linked to the means on which the recorded interrogation process will be saved.
• if the interrogation is recorded by technical means, we recommend that you still demand that the person interrogating you enter the entire text of his or her questions and your testimony in writing into the protocol in accordance with Part 2 of Article 104 of the CPC.
• the person interrogating you must indicate in connection with what and in which criminal proceedings the interrogation will be conducted. You have the right to know this, and the latter is obliged to ensure this right in accordance with Article 66(1)(1) of the CPC.
• record in the protocol the exact time of the beginning and end of the interrogation (Article 104 of the CPC).
• during the interrogation, you must be warned of criminal liability for refusing to testify and for giving false testimony. If necessary, you have the right to have an interpreter.
• If the interrogator offers to give your own testimony, do not agree. Never state the circumstances on your own, only through question and answer.
• try to systematize all the questions of the interrogator to catch what interests him or her most and what he or she already knows. This will later help you build an effective defense strategy. Remember that interrogation is an action that involves a two-way exchange of information with the person conducting the interrogation, ask him questions, find out the specifics of the criminal proceedings in which you were summoned - this is not prohibited.
• Answer only the questions asked, nothing more.
• Never model, assume, or make up answers to questions. If you are not exactly sure what you need to answer, you can deviate from clear wording. In this case, answer in the most streamlined form possible, for example: "if my memory serves me correctly", "as it seems to me", "I may be wrong", etc. 
• do not use the phrase "I don't remember", only a clear answer that cannot be distorted.
• if the question concerns signatures or other documents on the content of which the question is based, demand to see the original of such a document; if the original is not available, this should be reflected in the answer.
• the questions asked during interrogation should relate only to the criminal proceedings in question (part 1 of Article 95 of the CPC). Other questions should be considered illegal and should be terminated with a counter-question. You are not obliged to answer questions that do not relate to this criminal proceeding. Demand that this phrase be included in the interrogation report.
• if there is a question that needs to be agreed with a lawyer, you should announce to the person interrogating you a request for a break in the interrogation. After that, we recommend that you leave the interrogation room and coordinate your actions with your lawyer in another place, preferably outside the administrative building.
• if the questions relate to your official duties, other information that does not directly concern your identity, but which may have legal consequences for you, you should use the right provided for in Article 18 of the CPC.

III. Duties, rights and liability of a witness

The witness has the right:

• to know in connection with what and in which criminal proceedings they are being interrogated;
• use the legal assistance of a lawyer when giving testimony and participating in other procedural actions;
• refuse to testify against themselves, their close relatives and family members, which may give rise to suspicion, accusation of committing a criminal offense by them, their close relatives or family members;
• testify in your native language or another language in which you are fluent, or use the assistance of an interpreter;
• use notes and documents when giving testimony in cases where the testimony relates to any calculations and other information that is difficult for him to keep in mind;
• reimbursement of expenses related to a summons to testify;
• to familiarize themselves with the interrogation report and file requests for amendments, additions and comments to it, as well as to make such additions and comments themselves;
• apply for security in cases provided for by law;
• to challenge the interpreter.

The witness is obliged:

• to appear when summoned by an investigator, prosecutor, investigating judge or court;
• give truthful testimony during the pre-trial investigation and trial;
• not to disclose without the permission of the investigator, prosecutor, or court information directly related to the essence of the criminal proceedings and procedural actions that are being carried out (were carried out) during them and that became known to the witness in connection with the performance of his or her duties.
• a person who is involved in the conduct of procedural actions during a pre-trial investigation as a witness or who has witnessed such actions is obliged, at the request of the investigator or prosecutor, not to disclose information about the procedural action.

Responsibility of the witness:

• For knowingly giving false testimony to an investigator, prosecutor, investigating judge or court or for refusing to testify to an investigator, prosecutor, investigating judge or court, except as provided for in this Code, a witness shall be criminally liable.
• a witness shall be liable for malicious evasion of appearing before an investigator, prosecutor, investigating judge or court in accordance with the law.

IV. Practical advice.

• Before going to an interrogation, it is necessary to determine the list of questions or the subject matter of the interrogation in order to prepare for the interrogation. Better informed is better protected.
• never treat the person who interrogates you as a friend, comrade, or decent person; everyone is doing their job.
• pay attention to the question of the person interrogating you and the actual reflection of it in the protocol, as well as the relevance of your answers.
• never refuse to testify, as a witness cannot refuse to testify.
• the person interrogating you does not have the right to ask a leading question, you have the right to stop such interrogation and request the withdrawal of such a question.
• The person interrogating you has no right to exert psychological pressure, and you have the right to stop such interrogation.
• interrogation may not last more than two hours without a break, and in total - more than eight hours per day.
• each witness is interrogated separately.
• Read the interrogation report carefully before signing it. Each page of the protocol must be signed. Always cross out the blank columns in the report with the letter "Z", and cross out all empty spaces in the report. Since all empty spaces in the protocol can be subsequently filled in by the person interrogating you independently, without your knowledge and not in your favor.
• information about all persons present at the interrogation must be included in the protocol. Therefore, ask the person interrogating you to provide information about all persons in the room where the interrogation is being conducted. If the person interrogating you objects that they are not participating in the interrogation, answer that the law requires that all persons present at the interrogation be included in the record, not just those who participate in it (part 3 of Article 104 of the CPC).
• We recommend that you indicate all mistakes made by the person interrogating you in the notes to the protocol - at the bottom of the protocol before the witness's signature. You need to record all mistakes in your notes during the interrogation in writing, and not keep them in your memory. It should be remembered that it is not recommended to write down unnecessary information during interrogation, as your notes may be seized after the interrogation and attached to the interrogation report.
• Failure to familiarize you with your rights and responsibilities before interrogation is a gross violation. Indicate this in the protocol before your signature.
• at the end of the interrogation, you may be reclassified from a witness to a suspect, searched, all the contents of your pockets and bags temporarily seized, and detained. Conclusion - do not take anything unnecessary with you to the interrogation. Everything you take with you to the interrogation may later be examined and seized by the person conducting your interrogation.
• remember that if you refer to other people in your testimony, they will usually have to be found and questioned (referring to your testimony). Therefore, be careful what you say about other people.
• the use of violence, threats and other unlawful methods of investigation that degrade human dignity during interrogation is prohibited (Article 11 of the CPC).
• in case of pressure on you or other abuses by the person interrogating you, be sure to indicate this in the interrogation report (before your signature!).
• You need to go to the interrogation with a "cold" head. And better yet, with a lawyer!
• The person who interrogates you is not your friend! Communicate exclusively on an equal footing, within the framework of criminal proceedings and the scope of information you know.
• the interrogator may ask you to provide signature, voice, or biological samples, you must refuse to provide them, as this is an independent (separate) investigative action, which must be notified separately no earlier than three days before it begins. In addition, such actions of the person conducting your interrogation require additional consultations with a lawyer.
• You should take a printout of the articles from the CPC that regulate the interrogation of a witness with you to the interrogation. Put this printout in front of you during the interrogation. If you have nowhere else to put it, keep it in your hands; it will come in handy if you need to remind the person interrogating you that you have rights and he has obligations.