The confession of murder through violence consists violation of the fair trial

JUDGMENT 
Aleksandr Konovalov v. Russia 28.11.2017 (no.  39708/07)

see here  

SUMMARY 

The applicant has been convicted of intentional homicide (strangling a student) at the age of 12. It was observed by the ECtHR that the applicant had been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment in the police station (bumps in his body with rubber gauntlets and electric shocks) in order to confess his participation in the murder. In the course of his trial, he claimed to be innocent claiming that his confession was extracted by force  in order to get his “guilty statement”, but he did not convince the national courts that condemned him. The ECtHR found a number of violations of the Convention (inhuman and degrading behavior, inadequate research, freedom and security). It also found that the term of fair trial had been violated due to the use of the testimony obtained as a result of inhuman and degrading treatment.

PROVISIONS 

Article 3

Article 5

Article 6 par.1

PRINCIPAL FACTS 

The applicant, Aleksandr Viktorovich Konovalov, is a Russian national who was born in 1971 and is
serving a 12-year prison sentence for aggravated murder in Valuyki, the Belgorod region (Russia).
The case concerned his allegation of ill-treatment in police custody in order to make him confess to
the murder.

Mr Konovalov was taken for police questioning about the disappearance of a university student on
the morning of 17 June 2006. He was released, but taken back into custody the same evening for
swearing at passers-by near the police station. According to the police record, Mr Konovalov had no
injuries at this point in his detention. He was found guilty of petty hooliganism and placed in
administrative detention until the morning of 19 June.

He was then taken to another police station where he was questioned for the next 14 hours. During
this questioning he confessed to strangling the student and disclosed the location of her body. He
then reiterated his confession statements twice over the following days.

He was formally arrested as a suspect on 20 June just after midnight and a medical examination of
him was ordered. The ensuing report recorded multiple bruises and abrasions all over his body.
Mr Konovalov alleged that he had sustained the injuries following ill-treatment by the police,
including being punched, beaten with a rubber baton and given electric shocks.

Mr Konovalov’s allegations of ill-treatment were dismissed by the domestic investigating authorities
in decisions of 21 and 29 September for lack of evidence. In the first decision the investigator
notably considered that Mr Konovalov could have been injured by a third party outside the police
department.

In October 2006 the domestic courts, relying on Mr Konovalov’s confession during the preliminary
investigation, convicted him of aggravated murder. During his trial Mr Konovalov had pleaded
innocent, submitting that he had made self-incriminating statements under duress which should be
declared inadmissible. However, the courts dismissed these arguments, noting that the allegations
of ill-treatment had already been examined and dismissed during the preliminary investigation.
Relying on Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), Mr Konovalov complained that
he had been subjected to ill-treatment in police custody and that the ensuing investigation had been
ineffective. Also relying on Article 5 (right to liberty and security), he alleged that his detention from
the time of his actual arrest – on the morning of 17 June – and until his formal arrest as a suspect –
in the early hours of 20 June – had been unlawful. Lastly, he complained under in particular Article 6
§ 1 (right to a fair trial) that his conviction had been based on a confession he had made after having
been ill-treated.

THE DECISION OF THE COURT 

Violation of Article 3 (inhuman and degrading treatment)

Violation of Article 3 (investigation)

Violation of Article 5

Violation of Article 6 § 1 – on account of the use in evidence of confession statements obtained as a
result of inhuman and degrading treatment

Just satisfaction: 20,000 euros (EUR) (non-pecuniary damage) and EUR 3,250 (costs and expenses)(echrcaselaw.com editing).


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