ECtHR obliges Russia to pay 33,500 euros to mother of Chechen who died in militia

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg has upheld a lawsuit of Amnat Khambulatova, a resident of Chechnya, whose son died in a militia station, and ruled that the Russian authorities should pay the monetary compensation of about 33,500 euros to her.

The lawsuit filed to the ECtHR by the mother of the deceased Timur Khambulatov ran that her son was detained by Russian servicemen on March 18, 2004, in the Chechen Republic on suspicion of terrorist activities. According to local authorities, some explosive substance was found during a search of Khambulatov's house.

The young man was taken to the local militia station. As stated by the mother, on the same day Timur Khambulatov was found dead in a cell of the station. Amnat Khambulatova did not see herself militiamen beat her son; however, when she took his body from the morgue, she, as stated in her complaint, saw bruises and scratches.

According to the version of the authorities, in the course of questioning Khambulatov unexpectedly fell to the floor of the cell and died. The autopsy showed that he died not from his injuries, but from cardiopulmonary insufficiency.

The Chechen Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into the death of the young man on June 29, 2004; it was repeatedly suspended and resumed, but so far it has brought no results, the "Echo of the Caucasus" reports. At the same time, Ms Khambulatova asserts that her son was killed by local militiamen.

According to the European Court's decision, Russia shall pay 31.200 euros to the claimant as compensation of moral and 2288 euros of legal costs, the "Interfax" reports.