ECtHR awards compensation for torture and wiretapping to Kuban rights defender

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has obliged Russian authorities to pay Vladimir Ivanov, the head of the Gelendjik Human Rights Centre, convicted for 13 years in prison, a total of 7500 euros as a compensation for illegal wiretapping by FSB agents and beating up after arrest.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in April 2013, Vladimir Ivanov, the head of the Human Rights Centre in the city of Gelendjik, was sentenced to 13 years in prison; Zufar Achilov, a board member of the Centre, – to 11 years, and Gagik Avanesyan and Valery Semergei – to eight years in prison each. There were many doubtful points in the case; and the verdict is unreasonably severe, Vadim Karastelyov, an expert of the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG), has stated.

According to the verdict, in May 2011, the convicts received 500,000 roubles from a developer; and in February 2012, they were detained red-handed while receiving two million roubles. Their relatives and advocates insisted that the convicts had fallen victim to a provocation, and claimed that they were exposed to torture at the temporary detention facility (known as IVS). However, investigators found no grounds for initiating a torture case. The activists were persecuted for fighting against the illegal development of Gelendjik, Sergey Bogdanov, a lawyer, has stated.

According to the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"*, this criminal case may be politically motivated.