The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Russia to pay $41,700 in compensation to a Rostov woman over her illegal arrest and beating in the second ruling this year in favor of a victim of police brutality.
The court ruled Thursday that Russian authorities had ignored the right of Olga Meneshyova, 26, to a fair investigation after she was illegally detained and beaten by police officers seven years ago, and ordered the government to pay her compensation, Interfax reported.
A native of the Rostov region town of Bataisk, Meneshyova was detained on Feb. 13, 1999, by three plainclothes Rostov police officers, who searched her house without a legal search warrant. After she refused to answer their questions, the officers took her to a nearby police precinct, Interfax reported.
Later the officers said they were investigating a murder and wanted to question Meneshyova about a suspect she had known.
At the precinct, the officers beat Meneshyova with truncheons, held her by the throat and threatened to rape her and kill her relatives, Interfax reported.
After being held for five days without charge, Meneshyova was released without explanation.
Doctors documented bruises all over her body that were consistent with a beating, but prosecutors and a local court found no grounds to begin a criminal investigation against the police officers, the news agency said. With the help of human rights advocates Meneshyova appealed to the European court, which encouraged Russian prosecutors to open an investigation.
After receiving several threats, Meneshyova attempted to call off her appeal, but the court continued the investigation, Interfax reported.
In January, the European court ordered Russia to pay $300,000 to Alexei Mikheyev, 29, who in 1998 was subjected to electric shock torture by police in Nizhny Novgorod. Mikheyev sustained spinal injuries that left him paralyzed after jumping out of a precinct window.
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