Activist Olga Begretova loses appeal in forced fingerprinting case

The Supreme Court of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) has rejected the appeal complaint, lodged by Olga Begretova, an activist, against the decision of the Nalchik court, which refused to request information that the FSB had received about her after forced fingerprinting at the airport. This was reported by the Memorial Centre for Human Rights Defence* in its website.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 13, 2023, Begretova complained about forced fingerprinting at the airport, but investigators found no violations in the border guards' actions. Begretova sent a complaint to the Pyatigorsk Military Court, asking to oblige the investigators to initiate a case against border service guards, but the court also found border guards' actions as legal, as well as the investigators' refusal to investigate this incident. After this, Begretova demanded that the refusal of the local branch of the Russian FSB (Federal Security Service) to provide the information collected about her be declared illegal and that the FSB be obliged to eliminate the violations. The Nalchik City Court, citing state secrets, refused to satisfy the activist's claim, but she filed an appeal against this decision.

Ms Begretova has pointed out that, according to the law, fingerprints must be given by people who are unable to provide information about their identity due to health reasons, suspects or accused of a crime, arrested and those who have committed an offense, whose identity cannot be established. She has noted that she had given no consent to fingerprinting, and therefore it was conducted illegally.

In her complaint, she indicated that, as a person against whom there is no information about the initiation of a criminal case, she has every right to request the information that the FSB had received about her. However, the KBR's Supreme Court has upheld the ruling of the first-instance court.

*As reported on the website of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the reason for including on March 1, 2024, the unregistered "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD) into the roster of foreign agents was the spread of "inaccurate information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian Armed Forces."