Photo source: Djtm / CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo source: Djtm / CC BY-SA 3.0
ECHR imposed interim measures on a complaint of torture in Surgut
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, FranceOn February 26, 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered the Russian government to urgently send for a medical examination 57-year-old Sergey Loginov, one of 7 Surgut residents who reported torture in the building of the Investigative Committee. Sergey Loginov is the only one of these seven who is in custody.
According to the order of the Strasbourg court, the Russian government must send Sergey Loginov for examination to a medical institution independent of the Investigative Committee and the penitentiary authorities by March 20, 2019, in order to examine his physical and psychological condition, as well as the harm allegedly caused to him by torture on February 15 and 16, 2019. Doctors must determine whether he needs treatment and whether his condition is compatible with his further stay behind bars. By March 11, 2019, opinions prepared by independent doctors must be submitted to the European Court.
The complaint "Loginov and Others v. Russia" was prepared and submitted to the European Court in a short time, it was assigned the number 10618/19.
Three believers, Sergey Loginov, Yevgeny Fedin and Artur Severinchik, were sent to jail in connection with this case. They are in a pre-trial detention center in Nizhnevartovsk (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area). There were no reports that Yevgeny Fedin and Artur Severinchik were tortured. Earlier in Surgut (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug), mass searches and detentions of citizens suspected of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses took place. At least 7 people reported that they were beaten and tortured during interrogations in the building of the Investigative Committee. In total, 20 local residents, including a woman, became defendants in this case. On February 16, 2019, the hotline of the Investigative Committee of Russia received an appeal with a request to take action in connection with reports of torture of Sergey Loginov.
Law enforcers mistakenly mistake citizens' religion for participation in the activities of an extremist organization, referring to a court decision to liquidate and ban the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses organizations in Russia.
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