ECtHR awards 60,000 euros of compensation to persons involved in one of Natalia Estemirova’s last cases

Today, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has pronounced its decision in the case of "Makaeva vs. Russia". In Russia, the case was investigated by Natalia Estemirova and Akhmed Gisaev, employees of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial". Aima Makaeva, a resident of Grozny, the applicant in the case, filed a complaint about kidnapping of her son Apti Zainalov by law enforcers. The ECtHR has found out that the kidnappers were state agents. Furthermore, the ECtHR has found violations of the applicant's rights and awarded the mother of the kidnapped man a compensation of 60,000 euros.

On June 28, 2009, Apti Zainalov, born in 1980, was detained in Grozny by unidentified policemen from the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). During several days in early July, he was kept under guard at the Achkhoi-Martan District Hospital, being registered as an "unidentified person". According to the HRC "Memorial", Apti Zainalov was regularly taken from the hospital to the police station for questioning and was allegedly subjected to torture.

On July 7, the mother of Apti Zainalov witnessed unidentified Chechen policemen accompanying her son out of the hospital through the back door and driving him away to some unknown place. After that, Apti Zainalov disappeared without any traces.

On July 15, 2009, Aima Makaeva, the mother of Apti Zainalov, filed a complaint to the ECtHR demanding to take immediate action. According to the Grozny resident, investigators deliberately failed to conduct the inquiry into the case.

Till present, the whereabouts of Apti Zainalov has not been revealed; and no persons involved in the crime have been identified.

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