Olympic builder Demerchyan complains to ECtHR

In his complaint sent to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the builder from Sochi Mardiros Demerchyan has complained about the torture used against him at the police station, and the investigators' inaction.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Mardiros Demerchyan was detained by the police on June 12, 2013, and on the following day he was brought to hospital from the police station. Demerchyan said that policemen beat up and tortured him. Demerchyan was accused of a false denunciation of policemen. He refused to plead guilty. On December 17, 2014, the Adler District Court of Sochi sentenced Demerchyan to public works.

According to the "Public Verdict" Foundation, the complaint sent to the ECtHR in Strasbourg states that Demerchyan "was kept for 20 hours at the police station," where "state officials beat him up and tortured with the aim to force him to confess of committing a crime."

It also specifies that no criminal case was ever opened on Demerchyan's complaint – only pre-inquiry checks were conducted.

According to the "Public Verdict", the complaint is emphasizing specifically that "the applicant Demerchyan was punished for his attempt to make use of his legitimate protection against torture in the form of an application about a committed crime."

"After Demerchyan's demand to open a criminal case was rejected, he was himself charged with a false denunciation of torture and sentenced to 300 hours of corrective works. Although the sentence was later overturned, to date, the charge of false denunciation has not been removed.

These facts show a violation of Article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) that ensures the right to an effective remedy," says the "Public Verdict".

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.