Strasbourg Court fines Russia on claims of Chechen and Ingush residents

Russia has lost three cases at the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg initiated under claims of residents of Chechnya and Ingushetia: now it is obliged to pay 210,000 euros for disappearances and deaths of their relatives.

Bekman Asadulaev disappeared in Grozny on January 14, 2004, when he was detained at the exit from the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) by unidentified armed persons and taken away.

Ruslan Magomadov disappeared in Grozny early in the morning on February 9, 2003. He was taken away from home by armed persons in camouflage.

Umar Zabiev perished in June 2003 near the Ingush village of Galashki. He was on his way back from his work in the field in his ZIL truck with his mother and brother, when the truck got under shelling. Mother was heavily wounded, and Umar's body was found on the following day.

Based on witnesses' evidences and other data, and having received no requested documents from the Russian authorities, the Court has decided that the two missing persons should be considered victims, and Russian authorities were found guilty of their death. In the opinion of the Court, Zabiev was also killed by Russian militaries, as the "Kommersant" reports.