Advocates assess chances of efficient inquiry into Muslim Kuriev's death after ECtHR's decision

The decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) allows victims to seek bringing the law enforcers involved in the murder of Muslim Kuriev to justice, Magomed Gagiev, an advocate, believes. Kuriev, a resident of the village of Plievo, was killed in the counterterrorist operation (CTO). In such cases criminal persecution is initiated and resumed formally, and they have few prospects, the advocate, Marina Agaltsova, has suggested.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 19, the ECtHR ruled that Russian authorities had failed to conduct an efficient inquiry into the death of Muslim Kuriev, a resident of the village of Plievo, and were responsible for his death. Laila, Muslim's mother, was awarded compensation in the amount of 60,000 euros.

The ECtHR's decision allows victims to achieve efficient inquiries in order to bring the law enforcers involved in Kuriev's death to justice, the advocate, Magomed Gagiev, believes.

The ECtHR's decision "gives the right to demand resumption of inquiries," if they were stopped or suspended, Marina Agaltsova, an advocate with the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"*, has stated.

The enforcement practice of ECtHR's decisions in Russia suggests that, most likely, the case will be resumed formally, Ms Agaltsova has added.

"The fact that Russia is committing systemic violations during conducting CTOs in Northern Caucasus is no secret for the Council of Europe. There are a lot of cases from the Chechen campaign concerning disappearances, ill-treatment, torture, damage to civilians' property as a result of such CTOs," Nadezhda Ermolaeva, an advocate, has noted.