Published on 24 April 2023
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 41071/18
Aleksandr Vasilyevich TINGAYEV against Russia
and 9 other applications
(see list appended)
PROCEDURAL INFORMATION
Following a preliminary examination of the admissibility of the applications on 30 March 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
41071/18*
30/07/2018
Aleksandr Vasilyevich TINGAYEV
1969
On 05/05/2016 the applicant was attacked by a fellow inmate in correctional colony IK-34 in the Krasnoyarsk Region and had his jaw broken. He was immediately pressured by a penitentiary official to claim that it had been an accident and that he did not want that inmate to be prosecuted. The official allegedly threatened the applicant that if refused, he would be denied medical assistance, remain disfigured or would be contaminated with HIV and hepatitis during the surgery. The official continued to threaten the applicant after his transfer to prison hospital no. 1., where the applicant was allegedly not given medical treatment for several days until he signed a statement clearing the inmate who had attacked him.
An extract from the register of prison hospital no. 1: admitted on 05/05/2016 with a broken jaw and a concussion.
Statements by two inmates in the hospital: the applicant was not given painkillers prescribed to him until he signed a statement clearing his attacker.
On 28/06/2016 complaint to the Krasnoyarsk Region investigative committee/ refusal to open a criminal case on 27/06/2016 for lack of evidence: investigators questioned the head of prison hospital no. 1, an official of that hospital, two inmates who had shared a hospital ward with the applicant and the doctor and the nurse who had treated him. The investigators assigned the task of questioning the applicant to the head of IK-34, the applicant refused to testify/ On 04/10/2017 the refusal was overruled by the investigators’ superiors and a new inquiry ordered /On 15/05/2018 the applicant inquired about the results of the second inquiry, no reply given.
On 05/10/2017 the Zheleznodorozhniy District Court in Krasnoyarsk rejected the applicant’s complaint as the refusal of 27/06/2016 had been overruled by the investigator’s superiors/ Upheld on 27/02/2018 by the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court.
Convicted of manslaughter on 05/08/2009 by the Bogotolskiy District Court of the Krasnoyarsk Region/Sentenced to fourteen years and eight months’ imprisonment.
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of the complaints of ill-treatment,
Art. 3 - inadequate conditions of detention during transport - transit cell, van; between 18/02/2021 and19/02/2021; 0.4 sq. m per person; lack of fresh air, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack or insufficient quantity of food, no or restricted access to potable water, no or restricted access to toilet, overcrowding, passive smoking.
17458/19
14/03/2019
Igor Viktorovich BAZHIN
1977
At night between 31/08 and 01/09/2017 police officers arrested the applicant and took him to the Abakan police department in the Republic of Khakassia, where they subjected him to beatings. He was then transferred to the Uyarsk police station in the Krasnoyarsk Region, where on 01/09/2017 he confessed to murder committed on 23/08/2017.
Undated certificate by Temporary Detention Centre “Uyarskiy” in the Krasnoyarsk Region: hematomas on the back and right leg; according to the applicant, they were sustained when falling down a staircase on 31/08/2017.
Note of 04/09/2017 in the register of detainees, same facility: during the examination on 04/09/2017 the applicant had hematomas on the back and left thigh, bodily injuries sustained during the arrest on 31/08/2017, during falling down a staircase.
Medical expert report no. 379 of 05/09/2017 by the Krasnoyarsk Region Forensic Bureau: 2 parallel band-like bruises on the back of the chest, a bruise on the left thigh 20 by 13 cm; they were caused by blunt solid objects or upon impact with them, 1-3 days before the date of examination; thus, they could not originate on 23-24/08/2017.
Medical expert report no. 442 of 09/11/2017 by the same bureau: the same injuries, the back injury could not have originated from a fall on a staircase whereas the thigh injury could.
Expert report no. 77 of 11/03/2019: the injuries could be sustained on 31/08/2017 when falling down the stairs.
Prior to early November 2017 the applicant complained to the investigator of the criminal case, the complaint was transferred to the Khakassia Republic investigative committee/Between 15/12/2017 and 20/12/2019 nine refusals to open a criminal case; the last refusal on 20/12/2019, according to which the applicant’s injuries could have been sustained around 02/09/2017 upon his transfer to the Krasnoyarsk Region.
On 03/03/2020 the Abakan Town Court rejected the applicant’s appeal against the last refusal/Upheld on 22/04/2020 by the Khakassia Supreme Court.
On 25/10/2018 the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court convicted the applicant of murder/Upheld on 04/02/2019 by Supreme Court of Russia. The courts considered that the confession on 01/09/2017 and its verification at the crime scene on 04/09/2017, partly confirmed at the trial, were consistent and thus truthful, no duress issue as no criminal case had been opened into the matter.
Art. 6 (1) - unfair criminal proceedings - the applicant was convicted with reference to his confession made on 01/09/2017, obtained as he claimed as a result of duress by the police officers.
21944/19
14/04/2019
Mikhail Igorevich AVDEYEV
1989
On the night between 31/05/2013 and 01/06/2013 the applicant had a brawl with another person. At 5.a.m. he was arrested shortly thereafter and taken to the Savelovskiy police station in Moscow. Allegedly, police officers kicked him on the neck and torso, choked him with a plastic bag pulled over his head; he was stripped naked and electrocuted on the genitals; the officers filmed the ill-treatment on a mobile phone and threatened him with rape. The applicant confessed to the murder.
Certificate of 01/06/2013 (7 a.m.) by trauma unit of Polyclinic no. 142: incised wound on the right hand.
Certificate of 02/06/2013 by Temporary Detention Centre no. 1 for Northern Circuit of Moscow: injury of soft tissues of the left auricle, abrasions of the left shoulder, bruises of the right forearm and shoulder and on the back - received after arrest, in the police station.
Certificate of 03/06/2013 by Detention Centre no. 77/4 in Medvedkovo, Moscow: same findings.
On 17/06/2013 complaint to the Internal Security Service of the Moscow police/On 12/09/2013 internal inquiry report by the head of the Savelovskiy police station with the refusal to prosecute the officers/Complaints to various prosecutor’s offices/Between 30/10/2015 and 23/10/2018 several refusals to open a criminal case, the last refusal on 23/10/2018.
On 05/10/2018 the Savelovskiy District Court in Moscow dismissed the applicant’s complaint as the refusal of 19/10/2017 had already been overruled. The applicant did not appeal against the last refusal of 23/10/2018.
On 20/06/2015 the Savelovskiy District Court of Moscow convicted the applicant of murder
17260/20*
10/04/2020
Igor Borisovich NAGAVKIN
1980
Yekaterina Vanslova
Nizhniy Novgorod
On 14/12/2017 the applicant was taken from SIZO-2 in Moscow (without injuries, as confirmed by witnesses A.M. and A.V.) to the Moscow City Court for a hearing in a criminal case. During his search before the hearing the applicant, stripped of his clothes and handcuffed, was allegedly repeatedly punched and kicked by escort police officers G. and T. Four witnesses (detainees S., P., M. and B.) heard him shouting, and two of them saw the traces of beatings on him during or immediately after the hearing. During and after the hearing, the applicant’s requests for an ambulance were ignored. A witness (detainee V.P.) held in the same room saw the traces of beatings on the applicant’s head and alerted a judge in his case who requested that the ambulance be called.
Ambulance records of 14/12/2017: abrasion on the hip and contusion to the face on the right side.
Medical records of 14/12/2017 by SIZO-2 (after the alleged ill-treatment): redness on the right side of the forehead (3 cm by 3 cm) and right cheekbone (3 сm by 4 сm), right shoulder (4 cm by 1.5 cm) and the left side of the chest (7 cm by 3 cm); abrasions in the area of the left elbow, right forearm, wrists, left hip (8.5 cm by 6 cm), left knee (11.5 cm by 8 cm), right knee and feet.
Forensic medical expert’s examination of the applicant’s medical records on 31/07/2018 ordered by the investigator: the abrasions originated from the impact of hard blunt objects.
Examination of the applicant’s medical records by “European Bureau of Forensic Experts” in Moscow of 28/01/2019: the applicant’s bruises originated from four impacts by hard blunt objects and the abrasions originated from at least six impacts by hard blunt objects. The injuries could have been received at the time and in the circumstances indicated by the applicant. Explanations for the origin of the injuries in the police internal inquiry (the applicant himself hitting a table or being pressed against a wall for handcuffing) were not plausible, and explanations for the remaining injuries were missing.
On 14/12/2017 the use of force against the applicant was reported by the escort officers and the head of the Moscow police department was informed of an undergoing internal inquiry. On 28/03/2018 a member of the Public Oversight Committee complained on behalf of the applicant to the Preobrazhenskiy unit of the Moscow Investigative Committee/Between May 2018 and October 2019 several refusals to open criminal proceedings against the escort officers/The latest refusal- on 02/10/2019 as the use of force had been justified by the applicant’s resistance to the body search. Recordings from video cameras in the courthouse had not been obtained due to the expiry of the time-limit for their storage.
Most recent decision of 25/10/2019 by the Preobrazhenskiy District Court in Moscow: the proceedings terminated as the refusal of 02/10/2019 had been overruled by the investigators’ superiors.
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of the complaints of ill-treatment - the refusals to open criminal investigation were annulled, his appeals against them were not therefore examined by the courts and then new refusals were issued.
21104/20
28/04/2020
Aleksey Vitalyevich SEMENOV
1967
Diana Rashitovna Fayzullina
Kazan
On 27/07/2019 the applicant participated in a demonstration in Moscow against the plans of the local authorities related to garbage disposal. He was taking a photograph of the protest from a fence when a police officer hit him with a baton making him fall on the ground.
Medical examination act № 29840 29/07/2019 by the Moscow medical clinic №22 (hematoma on the ribs 15x6 cm)
On 10/08/2019 complaint to the Moscow investigative committee / On 12/08/2019 letter with refusal to register the complaint as no indication of criminal actions by the police officer had been detected - the use of force against the applicant was justified.
On 02/09/2019 the Tverskoy District Court in Moscow dismissed the appeal against the refusal to register the ill-treatment complaint for the lack of the subject-matter: the applicant’s complaint had not been registered by the law-enforcement authorities and no decision refusing to open a criminal case had been taken / On 11/11/2019 the Moscow City Court upheld it on appeal.
The applicant was not charged.
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of the complaints of ill-treatment
45896/20*
05/09/2020
Artur Akhmedpashayevich KADIYEV
1990
Konstantin Aleksandrovich Markin
Velikiy Novgorod
On 03/05/2018 the applicant was detained in Yaroslavl by three officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) on suspicion of a terrorism-related crime. Then the FSB officers searched the applicant’s flat and found a self-made explosive device. In the morning on 04/05/2018 the applicant was taken to undisclosed FSB premises and interrogated. During the interrogation the officers banged his head against the wall, subjected him to waterboarding and electrocution to make him confess to the crime. On the same day the applicant signed a confession.
Findings by doctor L.S. who examined the applicant on 04/05/2018 at the FSB premises: abrasions on the left shin 4 cm in diameter and on the right wrist joint 3 cm in diameter.
Examination of 05/05/2018 by medical ward no. 5 of remand prison no.1 (SIZO-1) in Yaroslavl: three hematomas on the inner surface of the right shoulder, two abrasions on the outer surface of the right wrist joint. These findings were reported to the police.
On 25/05/2018 the Frunzenskiy district police department in Yaroslavl refused to open a criminal case into the applicant’s ill-treatment/On 01/08/2018 the Frunzenskiy district prosecutor overruled that decision and ordered a new inquiry/On 24/12/2018 the applicant’s complaint was forwarded to the investigative department of the Yaroslavl military garrison/On 22/01/2019 refusal to open a criminal case for the lack of corpus delicti, although there was medical evidence of injuries on the applicant at his arrival at SIZO-1.
On 11/11/2020 the applicant’s appeal against the refusal of 22/01/2019 was rejected by the Yaroslavl garrison military court; that decision was upheld on 09/02/2021 by the Second Western Circuit Military Court.
The applicant also raised the ill-treatment complaint during his trial at the Second Western Circuit Military Court, which examined it and rejected with reference to the refusal of 22/01/2019./On 09/07/2020 the Supreme Court of Russia upheld that decision on appeal.
On 09/07/2020 the Supreme Court of Russia upheld the applicant’s conviction and the sentence of 14.5 years’ imprisonment.
Art. 6 (3) (c) - own choice of legal assistance -
the search in the applicant’s flat was performed after the institution of the criminal proceedings in respect of him but in the absence of an advocate required by domestic law for this type of crime. The first interviews of the applicant were made in the presence of the “forced counsel”, whom the applicant did not know. The applicant was compelled to refuse the advocate retained by his parents. The applicant argues of having been undoubtedly affected by the restrictions on his access to a lawyer in that his statement of confession was used for his conviction (Salduz v. Turkey [GC], no. 36391/02, § 58, ECHR 2008).
Art. 6 (1) - unfair criminal proceedings –
the reference to the statements of confession obtained as a result of torture or of other ill-treatment in breach of Article 3 as evidence so as to establish the relevant facts in criminal proceedings renders the proceedings, as a whole, unfair (Belugin v. Russia, no. 2991/06, § 70, 26 November 2019). The conviction was based to a large extent on a self-made explosive device found during the search. The applicant argued that it was “planted evidence”; the domestic courts failed to examine this allegation (Kobiashvili v. Georgia, no. 36416/06, § 73, 14 March 2019).
Art. 6 (3) (d) -
refusal of domestic courts to examine evidence presented by the defence, namely: expert examination reports of handwriting (confirming that the confessions were made under pressure) and of messages between the applicant and the chief of the alleged terrorist organisation (confirming passive role of the applicant in the organisation); testimony given by witness of defence.
20350/21
17/03/2021
Aleksey Aleksandrovich PULYALIN
1986
The applicant, a life prisoner, was taken from his prison in the Orenburg Region to remand prison IZ-2 in Sosnogorsk, Komi Republic, within the framework of criminal proceedings against other individuals. On 16/11/2016 he was allegedly beaten up by wardens of the remand prison and officers of the special unit of FSIN who punched him in the stomach, legs, head, twisted his arms and stretched his tendons.
Medical statement of 16/11/2016 by the medical unit of IZ-2 in Komi Republic: hematoma next to the right eyebrow.
On 16/11/2016 complaint to the Sosnogorsk investigative committee /No reply given, complaint reiterated on 10/02/2017/ Between 01/12/2016 and 31/01/2021 six refusals to open a criminal case, all overruled by the investigators’ superiors; last (7th) refusal on 13/01/2021, after the additional inquiry ordered by the Sosnogorsk Town Court on 15/09/2020.
On 15/09/2020 the appeal against the refusal of 09/04/2020 was granted by the Sosnogorsk Town Court, the investigators were to carry out an additional inquiry into the applicant’s allegations / Upheld by the Komi Supreme Court on 27/11/2020.
In 2009 the applicant was sentenced to life imprisonment for the arson of a shopping mall.
56105/21*
13/10/2021
Anna Valeryevna KRECHETOVA
1970
Karinna Akopovna Moskalenko
Strasbourg
On 04/03/2016 the applicant’s late husband M. was allegedly ill-treated by prison guards in IK-4 Kotlas, Arkhangelsk Region. Allegedly, M. was subjected to punching and kicking, and one of the officers jumped on his spine. He was then transferred to SIZO-2 Kotlas. According to the applicant, M. could not walk. On 17/03/2016 he was fully examined and diagnosed with
the spinal fracture.
On 25/06/2016 he was admitted to a hospital. On 15/12/2018 a videorecording of the events of 04/03/2016 was posted on Internet. On 28/05/2020 the applicant’s husband M. died from the injuries.
Forensic report no. 400 of 17/03/2016: consolidated compression fractures of the 1st and 2nd lumbar vertebrae. The injuries caused serious harm. They could not be caused by a blow to the lumbar region. The injuries occurred within 3 weeks prior to the examination.
Expert explanations no. 19041/ФЭ of 09/08/2019: the findings of forensic report no. 400 were not reliable, as it was based on the X-ray, the report did not mention signs of fracture of the 5th and 7th ribs along the paravertebral line on the right either.
On 11/03/2016 complaint to the Arkhangelsk Region investigative committee / Latest (6th) refusal of 20/07/2020 (the use of force and handcuffs had been caused by the applicant’s disobedience).
On 14/02/2020 the applicant and her husband M. appealed against the fifth refusal to open a criminal case.
On 29/12/2020 the Kotlas Town Court partially granted the appeal having found that the refusal was unlawful
and the inquiry – ineffective. It, however refused to find as
unlawful inaction of the investigators and oblige them to open a
criminal case. The court also refused to acknowledge
that the M.’s injuries were the result of ill-treatment on
04/03/2016/ upheld by Arkhangelsk Regional Court on 13/04/2021.
Art. 10 (1) - disproportionate measures against solo demonstrators - Moscow 06/09/2021 Solo picket in support of Crimean Tatars, article 20.2 § 8 of CAO, administrative detention of 18 days, 13/09/2021 Moscow City Court,
Art. 5 (1) - unlawful deprivation of liberty, including unrecorded detention and detention without a judicial order and any other legal basis - On 06//09/2021 the applicant was taken to the police station as an administrative suspect for the purposes of compiling an offence record: no written record of the administrative escort (Art. 27.2 § 3 CAO) (see Timishev v. Russia [Committee], no. 47598/08, § 21, 28 November 2017),
Detention as an administrative suspect: the applicant remained in detention after the offence record had been compiled (see Korneyeva v. Russia, no. 72051/17, § 35, 8 October 2019), Detention as an administrative suspect: no evidence / assessment of “exceptional circumstances” under Art. 27.3 § 1 CAO (see Butkevich v. Russia, no. 5865/07, §§ 63-64, 13 February 2018; Tsvetkova and Others v. Russia, nos. 54381/08 and 5 others, §§ 121-22, 10 April 2018),
Art. 6 (1) - lack of impartiality of the tribunal in view of the absence of a prosecuting party in administrative-offence proceedings - 13/09/2021, Moscow City Court, article 20.2 § 8 of CAO, administrative detention of 18 days
57684/22*
04/09/2022
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich PONOMARENKO
1983
Narine Pavlovna Ayrapetyan
Stavropol
At 8 a.m. on 04/06/2021 the applicant, who was detained in remand prison SIZO-1 in Stavropol, was subjected to ill-treatment by the prison staff, who pulled a plastic bag over his head and electrocuted him via wires attached to his hands to make him confess to a terrorism-related crime.
Medical examination act no. 3725 of 03/11/2021 by the Stavropol Region Forensic bureau: traces of healing burns, electrical marks on the right forearm and back of the left palm.
Prior to July 2021 complaint to the investigative department of the Stavropol Military Garrison/ Refusals to open a criminal case on 14/08/2021, 17/02/2022 and 06/04/2022 overruled by the investigators’ superiors. Last refusal issued on 04/05/2022.
On 09/02/2022, 30/03/2022 and 29/04/2022 the Stavropol Military Garrison Court refused to examine the applicant’s appeals against the refusals as the impugned decisions had been overruled.
The criminal case against the applicant is still pending.
Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of the complaints of ill-treatment -
2229/23
22/12/2022
Olga Aleksandrovna SHVETSOVA
1978
Valeriy Muradovich MALAKHOV
1974
Mariya Aleksandrovna Zadorozhnaya
Nizhniy Novgorod
On 14/04/2018 both applicants were arrested on suspicion of murder and brought to the Gulkevich investigative department in the Krasnodar Region, where five police officers severely beat the applicants and poured hot water on the second applicant (Mr Malakhov). On 19/04/2018 the first applicant (Ms Shvetsova) was subjected to more beatings by the same officers.
Applicant 1: the applicant’s injuries were not medically recorded whilst in detention or afterwards. On 19/04/2018, at the police station, she lost consciousness and was treated by the emergency doctors from the ambulance, who refused to record any information on ill-treatment and the injuries sustained. Ms Shvetsova’s injuries (bruises on the back and arms) are confirmed by written statements of the applicant’s IVS inmate of 11/07/2019 (she had met the applicant in the remand prison on 20/04/2018) and of the applicant’s niece given by her on 17/07/2019 to the applicant’s representatives.
Applicant 2: Forensic medical examination №191/2018 of 24/04/2018 by the Krasnodar Forensic Bureau: thermal burn of the back of the head and neck caused by hot liquid, hematoma on the right hip caused by a blunt object.
On 07/05/2018 complaint to the Krasnodar Region investigative committee / Between 17/05/2018 and 13/09/2021 several refusals to open a criminal case. Last refusal on 13/09/2021.
On 17/06/2022 the Oktyabrskiy District Court in Krasnodar rejected the applicant’s complaint against the last refusal to open a criminal case /On 23/08/2022 the Krasnodar Regional Court upheld it on appeal.
On 25/12/2019 the first applicant, Ms Shvetsova, was convicted of murder.