Published on 30 May 2023
THIRD SECTION
Application no. 43701/18
Sergey Vladimirovich LYAPIN against Russia
and 9 other applications
(see list appended)
PROCEDURAL INFORMATION
Following a preliminary examination of the admissibility of the applications on 4 May 2023, the Court decided, under Rule 54 § 2 (b) of the Rules of Court, that notice of the applications should be given to the Government of Russia.
In the applications marked by an asterisk, other complaints were raised. This part of the applications has been struck out of the Court’s list of cases or declared inadmissible by the Court, sitting in a single-judge formation, assisted by a rapporteur as provided for in Article 24 § 2 of the Convention.
In the enclosed list of applications, whenever an applicant is referred to using initials, this indicates that the Court has authorised anonymity for that person, whose identity will not be disclosed to the public (Rule 47 § 4).
For further information on the procedure following communication of an application brought against Russia, subject of well-established case law of the Court, please refer to the Court’s website.
SUBJECT MATTER
The applications concern complaints raised under Article 3 of the Convention relating to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment which are the subject of well-established case law of the Court (see Lyapin v. Russia, no. 46956/09, §§ 128-40, 24 July 2014 and Samesov v. Russia, no. 57269/14, §§ 54-63, 20 November 2018).
APPENDIX – STATEMENT OF FACTS
List of applications raising complaints under Article 3 of the Convention
(torture or inhuman or degrading treatment)
No.
Application no.
Date of introduction
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Representative’s name and location
Factual information
Medical evidence of ill‑treatment
Date of first complaint
Decision issued in response to complaint of ill-treatment
Decision under Article 125 of the CCrP
Appeal decision
Information relating to conviction
Other complaints under well-established case-law
43701/18
03/09/2018
Sergey Vladimirovich LYAPIN
1964
Deceased in 2019
Yekaterina Vanslova
Nizhniy Novgorod
The present case is a follow up complaint lodged by the applicant following the first judgment delivered by the Court in his case of Lyapin v. Russia, no. 46956/09, 24 July 2014. The Court found violations of the substantive and procedural limbs of Article 3 of the Convention on account of the applicant’s ill-treatment in police custody by State officials and the failure of the authorities to carry out an effective investigation thereof.
Events before the delivery of the Court’s judgment
Arrested on 25/04/2008 and taken to the Volodarskiy District police station in the Nizhniy Novgorod, the applicant was ill-treated by police officers K. and S. to obtain confession to thefts: he was gagged, tied up with a rope, punched, kicked, and subjected to electric shocks for almost 12 hours. Although the investigative committee carried out a pre-investigation inquiry into his injuries, on 10 occasions it refused to open a criminal case, which would have allowed the investigators to use the full range of investigative measures available. The applicant’s appeals against those refusals were to no avail.
In the present case the applicant complains that the respondent State had delayed the investigation in his criminal case against the State officials until it could be discontinued due to the expiry of the statutory time-limits for the prosecution in breach of Article 3.
See Lyapin v. Russia cited above, §§ 30-41.
Events after the delivery of the Court’s judgment
On 16/06/2015 the refusal of 15/07/2009 was overruled upon the applicant’s request and a new inquiry was ordered/ Between 16/06/2015 and 09/03/2016 four refusals to open a criminal case/On 16/03/2016 a criminal case into the applicant’s ill-treatment by the police was opened under Article 286 § 3 (a), (b) of the Criminal Code (abuse of authority). On 16/11/2016 the investigation was suspended for the failure to identify the perpetrators, then resumed. Several similar decisions to suspend and resume the investigation ensued. Latest suspension of 14/09/2017 was overruled on 02/11/2017.
On 02/11/2017 the investigators indicted police officers K. and S. on the charges of the abuse of power and infliction of the applicant’s injuries. On 07/12/2017, 09/01/2018 and 09/02/2018 the bill of indictment was returned to the investigators due to procedural and substantive shortcomings. On 04/04/2018 the criminal case was transferred to the Volodarskiy District Court for trial.
On 12/04/2018 the criminal case against police officer S. was registered at the Volodarskiy District Court.
On 17/05/2018 the court conducted a hearing during which S. requested to terminate criminal proceedings against him due to the expiry of a ten-years’ statutory time-limit for prosecution. The court confirmed that the time‑limit had expired on 26/04/2017 and discontinued the criminal proceedings against officer S.
According to the applicant, criminal proceedings against K. are pending. However, K. was not suspended from service.
It appears from the Notes on the Agenda of the Committee of Ministers for its 1362nd meeting of 3 – 5 December 2019, which included supervision of the execution of the Court’s first judgment, that the second suspect K. was convicted and given a suspended sentence in view of, in particular, “the character of the defendant, his property and marital status”, and “taking into account the aims and motives of the crime committed”.
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of the complaints of ill‑treatment .
Art. 46 - falls to be examined under procedural limb of Art. 3
19125/20
07/05/2020
Victor
LUKYAN
1976
Olga Aleksandrovna Sadovskaya
Nizhniy Novgorod
In the morning on 25/05/2018 the applicant was arrested at his home in Domodedovo, Moscow Region, by police officers from the Barybino police station. According to the applicant, he spent the night in the station’s temporary detention cell. In the morning, he was taken by the police officers to a garage on the premises of the station where officer G. assisted by a certain A. tied his arms and legs to a metal chair and subjected him to electric shocks for approximately
30 min. with a view to obtaining a confession to a murder. The applicant was beaten on the face and the legs, while his arms and legs were tied, and a plastic bag was placed over his head. He lost consciousness twice. He was forced to sign a self-incriminating statement.
Forensic medical examination act
no. 182 of 11/06/2018 on the applicant’s examination carried out on 26/05/2018 by the Domodedovo Forensic Bureau: a bruise on the left eyelid; a bruise abrasion on the left cheekbone and extending to the pinna; bruises on the front and back sides of the wrists; bruise on the back of the middle third of the right forearm; a bruise on the back of the low third of the left hip; a bruise in the area of the external surface of the left ankle. The injuries could have been inflicted within 1-3 days prior to the date of the examination.
Certificate on admission to remand prison on 29/05/2018: hematoma of the left eye orbit; an old yellow bruise with oedema under the left orbit.
On an unspecified date shortly after 25/05/0218 complaint to the investigator in charge of his criminal case / Refusal to open a criminal case on 05/07/2018, 27/02/2019, 17/07/2019, 15/11/2019. Each time, the investigator’s superior overruled the refusals and referred the case for an additional inquiry (shortcomings identified: failure to identify the police officer who assisted G. in the garage, failure to locate this place and question the forensic medical doctor). The officers indicated that they had had to use force and push the applicant down to the floor and handcuff him in response to his resisting the arrest. The refusals referred to the results of the forensic examination, whose findings were not consistent with the applicant’s version of the events. No assessment of the necessity / proportionality of force was carried out.
On 02/03/2020 the applicant challenged the last refusal before the Babushkinskiy District Court in Moscow/On 23/04/2020 the court terminated the proceedings as the impugned refusal had been overruled by the investigator’s superior on 20/04/2020.
On 26/06/2019 the applicant was convicted of murder by the Domodedovo City Court in the Moscow Region and sentenced to six years of imprisonment.
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of the complaints of
ill-treatment.
23922/20
15/06/2020
Nikolay Vladimirovich ANDREICHEV
1982
Crew Against Torture
Nizhniy Novgorod
On 27/07/2019 the applicant participated in the manifestation for fair elections to Moscow Duma, when he was beaten up by police officers in the Tverskoy District in Moscow.
Forensic Medical Examination no.071-2019 of 08/01/2020 by the Moscow Forensic Bureau: the injuries could have been sustained by the applicant in the described circumstances; certificate of 28/07/2019 by the Pirogov City Hospital no. 1: closed fracture of the external epicondyle of the left shoulder without dislocation;
Medical Card Extract
no. 64910/551 of 28/07/2019 by the Pirogov City Hospital no. 1: bruising of the left elbow joint, hemarthrosis of the left elbow joint; closed fracture of the external epicondyle of the left shoulder without dislocation.
Ambulance certificate
no. 919672627 of 28/07/2019 (bruising of the left elbow joint, hemarthrosis of the left elbow joint);
Medical Certificate no. 1388 of 23/08/2019 by City Hospital no. 62: closed marginal fracture of the external epicondyle of the left humerus with slight dislocation.
On 21/08/2019 complaint to the Moscow Investigative Committee / the applicant alleges that officer I. refused to acknowledge receipt of the complaint. Then on 27/08/2019 complaint to the Moscow police/ on 28/08/2019 the complaint transferred to the Investigative Committee; on 10/09/2019 the complaint retuned to the police/ No further information given to the applicant, no inquiry opened into the matter.
On 17/09/2019 the Basmannyy District Court of Moscow refused to examine the applicant’s complaint for the lack of subject matter/ Upheld on appeal by the Moscow City Court on 24/12/2019.
On 09/10/2019 the Presnenskiy District Court of Moscow refused to examine the applicant’s complaint contesting the transfer of his complaints of 10/09/2019 and inaction of the investigation for the lack of subject matter/ Upheld on appeal by the Moscow City Court on 16/12/2019.
Conviction of an administrative offence under article 20.2 para 6.1 of CAO and sentence to a fine of RUB 20,000; final decision – 16/12/2019, Moscow City Court
Art. 11 (1) - various restrictions on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly - Manifestation in support of fair elections to Moscow Duma in Moscow on 27/07/2019; article 20.2 § 6.1 of CAO; administrative fine of
RUB 20,000; Moscow City Court, 16/12/2019;
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention - 27/07/2019 at around 9.00 p.m. - 28/07/2019 at
01.20 a.m.; Applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/ assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record
(Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity (see Korneyeva v. Russia,
no. 72051/17, § 34, 8 October 2019; Ryabinina and Others
v. Russia [Committee],
nos. 50271/06 and
8 other applications, § 35,
2 July 2019);
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - Moscow City Court, 16/12/2019; administrative fine of
RUB 20,000.
26735/20
08/04/2020
Kirill Maksimovich BELOUSOV
1993
Svetlana Nikolayevna Bayturina
Moscow
On 27/07/2019 the applicant was solo picketing with a poster in support of the free elections to Moscow Duma, when he was arrested by the police officers of the Dorgomilovskiy district police station in Moscow. The officers used force to carry the applicant to the police bus, intentionally hit his head and right shoulder against the side of the bus and forcibly put him in the vehicle. The applicant alleges that he did not resist the arrest.
Certificate
No. 15047 of 29/07/2019 by the emergency room of Mytishchi town hospital: soft tissue bruising to the head and right shoulder joint.
Certificate of medical examination of 03/08/2019 by a neurologist of the Moscow Medical Research Centre: brain concussion.
On 07/08/2019 complaint to the Tverskoy District Investigative Committee in Moscow/on 07/08/2019 refusal to register a crime report and institute an inquiry.
On 02/09/2019 the Tverskoy District Court in Moscow rejected the applicant’s complaint against the inaction of the investigating authorities for the lack of the subject matter as no inquiry had been carried out/Upheld on 09/10/2019 by the Moscow City Court.
No relevant information
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of the complaints of
ill-treatment.
53881/20
17/11/2020
Maksim Aleksandrovich GRISHENKOV
1985
Svetlana Anatolyevna Toreyeva
Moscow
On 03/08/2019 the applicant was a bystander at the manifestation for the fair elections to Moscow Duma in Moscow, when he saw several police officers beating a man. The applicant attempted to protect that man and got beaten up by rubber truncheons and arrested. His beating was filmed on a video.
Medical Certificate No. 9018 of 04/08/2019 by the Pushkino District Hospital: bruises and abrasions of the lower limbs.
Medical Certificate No. 25342-19 of 04/08/2019 by the emergency room of the Eramishantsev City Hospital: soft tissue contusions to both knees, abrasions to both shins.
Medical Certificate of 05/08/2019 by the emergency room of City Hospital No.3 in Moscow: soft tissue contusions to the right shoulder, contusions and abrasions to both shins.
On 12/08/2019 complaint to the Moscow Investigative Committee / The applicant received no reply and no inquiry into the matter was opened.
On 18/12/2019 the Presnenskiy District Court in Moscow rejected the applicant’s complaint on formal grounds, as the applicant contested inactions of the Investigative Committee whereas the complaint had been transferred for examination to the police/On 17/02/2020 upheld by the Moscow City Court.
On 20/08/2019 the Taganskiy District Court in Moscow convicted the applicant under Art.20.2 paragraph 5 of the CAO and sentenced him to community service in the amount of
30 hours.
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - Moscow City Court, 30/06/2020; community service, 30 hours;
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful detention – on 03/08/2019 at 5.00 p.m. till 04/08/2019 at
2.00 a.m.; The applicant taken to the police station as an administrative suspect: no evidence/ assessment that it was impracticable, on the spot, to compile the offence record
(Art. 27.2 § 1 CAO) and achieve the objectives set out in Art. 27.1 CAO, e.g. to establish the suspect’s identity (see Korneyeva v. Russia,
no. 72051/17, § 34, 8 October 2019; Ryabinina and Others
v. Russia [Committee],
nos. 50271/06 and
8 other applications, § 35,
2 July 2019), Detention as an administrative suspect: beyond the three-hour statutory period
(Art. 27.5(1)-(4) CAO)
(see Tsvetkova and Others
v. Russia, nos. 54381/08 and
5 others, §§ 121-22, 10 April 2018);
Art. 11 (1) - various restrictions on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly - Manifestation in support of the fair elections to Mosgorduma in Moscow on 03/08/2019. article 20.2 § 5 of CAO; community service of 30 hours; Moscow City Court, 30/06/2020;
Art. Art. 6 (1) and 6 (3) (d) – unfair hearing in view of the impossibility to confront witnesses - The court failed to summon police officers on whose reports the applicant’s conviction was based.
53488/21
01/10/2021
Ivan Viktorovich LYUBSHIN
1982
Tatyana Valeryevna Molokanova
Moscow
At 7 a.m. on 15/10/2019 the applicant was arrested on the street by agents of the Kaluga Department of the Federal Security Service (FSB). He was handcuffed, thrown on the floor of a minivan and beaten. According to the applicant, the FSB officers also subjected him to electric shocks with a view to obtaining a confession. They took him to a forest where beatings continued.
At 9.30 a.m. he was taken to an investigator at the Kaluga Investigative Committee, where a record of his arrest was drawn up.
Forensic report
no. 3601/3135 of 15/10/2019 by the Kaluga Forensic Bureau: bruises on the left ear; bruises on the right and left wrist; superficial contusion in the area of the first finger of the right hand; three bruises on the left shoulder; bruising of the right elbow joint; six bruises on the back of his left shoulder and of his chest to the left; four bruises on the left side of the lumbar area; an injury in the area of the right tibia. The injuries may have been caused 1 to 3 days prior to the examination.
Similar injuries were recorded by the IVS staff on 15/10/2019 and later in the evening on the same date by an ambulance doctor who examined the applicant in the IVS (no specific details, no documents of that examination provided).
On 21/10/2019 and 16/10/2019 complaints to the Kaluga Investigative Committee / Refusal to open a criminal case on 09/12/2019 (no electrocution burns found by the forensic examination, the FSB officers involved in the applicant’s arrest denied use of force, the forensic report indicated that the injuries may have been caused between 1 and 3 days before the arrest, thus contradicting the applicant’s allegations that they had been inflicted just few hours before the examination).
After several rounds of proceedings, on 29/01/2021 the Kaluga Garrison Military Court upheld the last refusal to open a criminal case/ upheld by the Second Western Circuit Military Court on 06/04/2021.
.
61520/21
15/12/2021
Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich BUNIN
1975
Mariya Aleksandrovna Zadorozhnaya
Nizhniy Novgorod
On 12/11/2018 the applicant was questioned and then allegedly beaten by officers at the Tuapse police station in order to force him to confess to a robbery: the officers tied his hands behind his back and punched and kicked him in the head. He was let go on the same day.
Forensic expert report No. 828/2018 of 13/11/2018 by the Tuapse Forensic Bureau: hematoma around both eyes, brain concussion.
On 13/11/2018 the applicant’s sister and then on 16/04/2019 the applicant complained to the Tuapse district investigative committee/On 10/04/2019 refusal to open a criminal case/ On 16/04/2019 decision to open a criminal case/ Between 16/10/2019 and 01/07/2021 seven decisions to close the investigation for the lack of corpus delicti; each decision was overruled by the investigators’ superiors. The outcome of the pending proceedings is unknown.
On 02/07/2021 the Tuapse Town Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal against the latest decision to close the investigation as the contested decision of 01/07/2021 had just been overruled.
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of the complaints of
ill-treatment.
3034/22*
24/12/2021
Yuriy Mikhaylovich VAKULENKO
1987
Natalya Viktorovna Yastrebova
Rostov-on-Don
At 00.30 a.m. on 15/05/2021 the applicant was detained by the Border Control Service of the FSB in Rostov-on-Don on suspicion of smuggling. He was allegedly subjected to beatings on various parts of the body and electrocuted once by a stun gun with the aim of extracting information. At 11.30 a.m. on the same day he was taken to police station for drafting administrative offense report and then to the Zheleznodorozhnyy District Court in Rostov-on-Don, where he was convicted under Article 19.3 § 1 of the CAO and sentenced to 5 days of administrative detention.
Expert examination report no. 13 of 28/05/2021 by the 111th Main Centre of Forensics of the Ministry of Defence on the examination carried out on 20/05/2021: abrasion on right shoulder 05x04 cm, bruises on right knee 2x1.7 cm and left shin 2x1 cm; the injuries could have originated between 5 to 9 days prior to the examination in the circumstances described by the applicant.
On 20/05/2021 complaint to the 314th military investigations department/on 31/05/2021 and 05/07/2021 refusals to open a criminal case as no crime had taken place: the inquiry interviewed the applicant, who had maintained his allegations and the implicated officers, who had either denied using any physical force (officer I.) or stated that the force had been used due to the applicant’s resistance (officers B., S., F. and G.). No assessment of necessity or proportionality of the use of force was made.
On 15/10/2021 the Rostov-on-Don Garrison Military Court rejected the applicant’s appeal contesting the last refusal/on 10/12/2021 the Southern Military Circuit Court upheld that decision.
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of the complaints of ill-treatment.
5841/23
10/01/2023
Daniil Konstantinovich BORZENKOV
2001
Danil Ilnurovich Nurgaleyev
Kazan
At 9.15 p.m. on 24/02/2022 the applicant was apprehended on the way to a Moscow manifestation against the war in Ukraine by the Russian Guards officers who hit him with the rubber truncheons on the ribs, head and legs. Thereafter he was taken the Mezchanskiy police station in Moscow, where a record of an administrative offence was drawn up.
Medical certificate of 25/02/2022 by the Moscow City Polyclinic No. 62: contusion of the soft tissues of the left thigh.
On 04/03/2022 complaint to the Tverskoy District Investigative Committee in Moscow/on 28/03/2022 the complaint transferred to the Internal security department of the Moscow Police. No other information given to the applicant.
On 28/07/2022 the Tverskoy District Court in Moscow dismissed the applicant’s appeal against the authority’s inaction on the grounds of the lack of the subject-matter of the case/On 04/10/2022 the Moscow City Court upheld that decision on appeal.
The applicant was sentenced to the payment of an administrative fine under
Article 20.2 (5) of the CAO (final – Moscow City Court 09/09/2022).
Art. 11 (1) - various restrictions on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly - Manifestation against the war in Ukraine on 24/02/2022.
Article 20.2 (5) of the CAO. Administrative fine. Moscow City Court, 09/09/2022.
7877/23
02/02/2023
Natalya Borisovna KRISKO
1967
Elza Albertovna Valiyeva
Nizhniy Novgorod
At approximately
7 p.m. on 01/06/2020 in the Krasnodar Region the applicant was allegedly ill-treated by intoxicated police officers, who grabbed her by the wrists and pushed her down, causing her to hit the back of her head on the steps of a bank. She was held against the railing of the staircase for approximately 20-30 minutes in front of a number of passers-by.
Ambulance call card No. 160 of 01/06/2020 by the Kurganinskiy district ambulance station.
Extract from the applicant’s medical record of 02/06/2020 by the Kurganinskiy central district hospital: bruises in the chest and upper limbs, bruising.
Photos of the applicant’s injuries.
On 03/06/2020 complaint to the Labinskiy Inter-district Investigative Committee in the Krasnodar Region / Between 03/07/2020 and 23/10/2021 nine refusals to open a criminal case.
On 09/08/2022 the Kurganinskiy District Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal against the refusal of 23/10/2021/Upheld by the Krasnodar Regional Court on 20/10/2022.
The applicant was not charged with any offence.