The European Court of Human Rights has fined Russia 72,000 euros (almost $98,000) over the disappearance of a man in its North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, the court has said in a statement.
Bashir Mutsolgov disappeared on December 18, 2003, after unknown gunmen wearing masks and camouflage gear detained him near his house in the town of Karabulak and took him away in a car. The court said a witness talked to a traffic police officer immediately after the incident. The officer stopped the car, but let the abductors go after the driver showed him a police identity card.
Mutsolgov's relatives applied to a Russian court, but the case was suspended several times, which forced them to apply to the Strasbourg court.
The court said the Russian authorities had not provided it with the requested documents concerning the case. It also found that Russia had conducted no effective investigations into the disappearance.
The court said the kidnappers were members of Russia's security services, and ruled that the Russian authorities were guilty of Mutsolgov's death.
Russia was accused of breaching articles of the European Convention on Human Rights guaranteeing the right to life, the right to liberty and security, and prohibiting inhuman or degrading treatment.
The court ruled that Russia pay the applicants 10,000 euros (more than $13,500) in pecuniary damages, 60,000 euros (about $81,500) as compensation for moral damage, and 2,000 euros (some $2,700) to cover legal expenses.
Under the European Convention on Human Rights, Russia or the applicants have three months to appeal the ruling in the court's Grand Chamber.
Russia has lost the majority of cases brought against it in the Strasbourg-based court. A large number of suits are related to abductions of people in the country's volatile North Caucasus.
In February, the country ratified Protocol 14 to the European Convention of Human Rights, which is designed to help the Strasbourg court cope with the growing backlog of complaints from individuals, nearly one-third of them filed from Russia.
Russia had refused to ratify the document, accusing the Strasbourg court of bias and politicized decisions.
PARIS, April 2 (RIA Novosti)
