23:40, 25 November 2019

ECtHR gives Russia less than four months to respond to gay Lapunov's case

Maxim Lapunov. Photo: screenshot of the video by "Novaya Gazeta" on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG3eAEGK3V0

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has communicated the complaint of Maxim Lapunov about torture in Chechnya caused by his sexual orientation. The Russian authorities should submit their position to the ECtHR by March 12, 2020. The complaint filed in May this year was accepted to consideration within record time.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in October 2017, Maxim Lapunov, a native of the Omsk Region, stated that he had been detained in Chechnya on suspicion of homosexuality and spent 12 days in the basement of the criminal investigation division, where he was beaten up. Later, Lapunov was forced to leave Russia because of threats.

The promptness of the communication indicates the importance of the issues raised in the case, said Olga Sadovskaya, who represents Lapunov's interests.

Let us remind you that the Russian LGBT Network has submitted two cases to the ECtHR regarding the prosecution of LGBT people in Chechnya. The second one was the complaint on behalf of Arbi Altemirov, a resident of Chechnya, who died after severe torture. His relatives are not going to file a complaint, because after Arbi's detention, Chechen authorities suggested them to deal with the man by themselves in order to "wash away the stigma of shame."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 25, 2019 at 03:39 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.