ECtHR finds Russian authorities guilty in case of Zhebrailov brothers kidnapped in Chechnya

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled to pay compensation for moral damages in the amount of 79,500 euros to family members of Zhebrailov brothers, who were detained by law enforcers in Chechnya in 2005 and the fate of one of whom is still unknown.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the material on the kidnapping of Zhebrailov brothers was among the cases, which were in May 2012 handed over by human rights defenders to Alexander Bastrykin, the Chairman of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), with a request to have them investigated by special units of the ICRF.

According to the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", at night on April 26, 2005, in the village of Gekhi of the Urus-Martan District of Chechnya, unidentified armed persons kidnapped brothers Balauddi (Balavdi) Zhebrailov and Salavdi Zhebrailov. According to the human rights defenders, the brothers were brought to Grozny to the second regiment of the patrol-and-post service (known as PPS) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for Chechnya, where they were subjected to torture. After a while, Salavdi Zhebrailov was released. His brother's whereabouts is still unknown.

The ECtHR has concluded that the Russian authorities are responsible for the kidnapping and probable death of Balauddi Zhebrailov, and for the failure to investigate the crime.

As a result, the ECtHR has obliged Russia to pay compensation to family members of Balauddi Zhebrailov in the amount of 60,000 euros; and to family members of Salavdi Zhebrailov in the amount of 19,500 euros. This was reported by the HRC "Memorial", which lawyers together with representatives of the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC, London) represented the complainants' interests of at the ECtHR.

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