Court upholds refusal to investigate murder of Syrian by law enforcer from Stavropol Territory

The Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) refused to investigate the brutal murder of a Syrian resident committed by alleged members of the "Vagner grouping", in which a law enforcer whom the Stavropol Territory was identified. The decision of Russian courts on this case gives the right to apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Ilya Novikov, an advocate, has noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in November 2018, the BBC Russian Service reported that mercenaries from the "Vagner" private military company (PMC) were trained at a training ground in the Krasnodar Territory prior to be sent to Syria. On November 20, 2019, in an investigation of a video of the execution of a Syrian resident by mercenaries from PMC "Vagner", the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper found out that one of the killers was a native of the Stavropol Territory. Fighters of this PMC, including a former law enforcer from the Stavropol Territory, tortured and killed a deserter from the Syrian government troops.

The brutal murder of a Syrian resident should be investigated in the territory of this country, while international judicial authorities have the right to ignore this crime. However, law enforcers in Russia may intervene in the case, as such crimes damage the country's reputation, lawyers have noted.

"In this case, we have received already the second confirmation that the Russian judiciary has absolutely no desire to investigate allegations of grave crimes committed by Russian citizens," Clemence Bektart, a lawyer and the FIDH (Fédération internationale pour les droits humains = International Federation for Human Rights) litigation coordinator, has commented on the decision of the Moscow City Court (MCC).