Resident of Kabardino-Balkaria demands to punish judges for unjustified arrests

Former law enforcer Denis Irza, who won the case on his unlawful arrest in the Kabardino-Balkaria at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), demanded to institute criminal proceedings against the judges who extended his arrest.

In 2015, Denis Irza was arrested for his refusal to testify against his colleagues, said his advocate Magomed Abubakarov.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, on November 8, 2014, law enforcers came to a house of the resident of Prokhladny to search it. They found a parcel with drugs and demanded from the owner of the house and his guests to pay 5 million roubles to close the case. According to a colleague of Denis Irza, the case was a staging designed to remove from the scene a group of law enforcers who knew too much about a group of drug producers. According to his colleague, Denis Irza was not involved in the case, he was married to a cousin of one of the suspects and wanted to get the money the mother of his wife was to inherit.

During the arrest, the health state of Denis Irza noticeably worsened. He also takes care of his two minor children, one of whom was born when his father was under arrest, but that fact did not help the suspect, the advocate said.

The ECtHR found excessive three years and six months spent by Denis Irza in custody during the investigation and trial and ordered the Russian authorities to pay him 5100 euros.

Yet back in 2000s, citizens of Russia began to file complaint to the ECtHR about their excessive detention in custody, noted Ekaterina Efremova, a lawyer at the Centre for Assistance to International Defence.