ECtHR awards compensation to mother of soldier who perished in North Ossetia

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has appointed 18,700 euros of compensation to Lyudmila Selipetova, whose son, according to investigators, committed suicide while serving in the army in North Ossetia.

According to the case materials, on June 20, 2007, Lyudmila Selipetova's son began serving in the army; he was sent to Vladikavkaz. On August 7, 2008, Lyudmila was informed about the death of her son; and investigators opened a criminal case on driving him to suicide, the "Novaya Gazeta" wrote in the evening on October 12 with reference to the ECtHR.

The sergeant who served with Selipetova's son said that at night on August 6, 2008, their platoon was transferred to the Roki Tunnel. Colleagues of the applicant's son heard two shots, when he was on guard and found him covered in blood in the trench. Selipetova's son died on the way to the hospital, the ECtHR said in its statement.

On March 13, 2009, the criminal case was suspended due to the absence of suspects. Then the investigation was stopped for five more times. The case was finally closed in 2015.

On January 16, 2015, the North-Caucasian District Military Court awarded Selipetova 100,000 roubles, upholding her complaint about delays in the investigation. The ECtHR has awarded her 18,700 euros more, the ECtHR has informed.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 13, 2021 at 08:53 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.