Insufficient examination of cases of police violence against prisoners, incompatible with the ECHR

JUDGMENT 

Ostroveņecs v. Latvia 5/10/2017 (no. 36043/13)

see here

SUMMARY

Complaints of a prisoner for body kicks with a rubber rope, he was forced to perform physical exercises (deep seat) by police officers, and  threatened to kill or mutilate him if he did not plead guilty of the crimes he was accused of. Insufficient investigation of allegations of abuse. Infringement of Article 3 (inhuman and degrading treatment)

PROVISIONS

Article  3

Article  13

PRINCIPAL FACTS 

The applicant, Nikita Ostroveņecs, is a Latvian national who was born in 1993 and is detained in Jēkabpils (Latvia). The case concerned his complaint of having been ill-treated by detainee escort officers.

A minor at the time of the criminal trial against him, Mr Ostroveņecs, was charged, together with three co-accused, with aggravated murder and the intentional destruction of property. After several hearings in May 2010, having pleaded “partially guilty”, he was convicted as charged on 29 May 2010 and sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction on appeal but reduced the sentence to nine and a half years’ imprisonment in December 2013.

Mr Ostroveņecs submits that on the trial days he was insulted and physically assaulted in the holding area in the basement of the Riga Regional Court by detainee escort officers to make him confess to the crimes. In particular, he was made to perform exercises such as walking slowly in a squatted position; he was beaten on his back and other body parts, including with a rubber truncheon; the officers belittled him and threatened to kill or mutilate him if he did not plead guilty.

During a hearing on 25 May 2010, without having consulted his lawyer, he eventually admitted his guilt and refused to testify. At a later hearing, on 28 May 2010, after consultation with his lawyer, and after his mother and his lawyer had lodged complaints with the prosecution service about his illtreatment, he maintained his earlier plea of “partially guilty”, stating that he had admitted to being guilty only as a result of having been assaulted. In June 2010 the Internal Security Office opened an internal inquiry into the complaints of illtreatment. Having obtained both Mr Ostroveņecs’ medical records from the prison where he was held and as well as explanations from 16 officers, the Office refused to open criminal proceedings in August 2010, finding that there was no information indicating that a disciplinary offence had been committed. After that decision and further refusals by the Office to open proceedings had been quashed by the prosecution service, a criminal investigation was eventually opened in February 2012. It was terminated in July 2012, on the grounds that there were no elements of an offence. Subsequent appeals by Mr Ostroveņecs’ mother and himself against that decision were dismissed by the prosecutors.

Relying in particular on Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), Mr Ostroveņecs complained that he had been ill-treated by the detainee escort officers and that there had been no effective investigation into his allegations.

THE DECISION OF THE COURT 

Violation of Article 3 (investigation)

Violation of Article 3 (inhuman and degrading treatment)

Just satisfaction: EUR 8,000 (non-pecuniary damage) and EUR 1,210 (costs and expenses)(echrcaselaw.com editing). 


ECHRCaseLaw
Close Popup

Χρησιμοποιούμε cookies για να σας προσφέρουμε καλύτερη εμπειρία στο διαδίκτυο. Συμφωνώντας, αποδέχεστε τη χρήση των cookies σύμφωνα με την Πολιτική Cookies.

Close Popup
Privacy Settings saved!
Ρυθμίσεις Απορρήτου

Όταν επισκέπτεστε μία ιστοσελίδα, μπορεί να λάβει κάποιες βασικές πληροφορίες από τον browser σας, κατά βάση υπό τη μορφή cookies. Εδώ μπορείτε να ρυθμίσετε τη συγκατάθεσή σας σε όλα αυτά.

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources, so we can measure and improve the performance of our site.

Google Analytics
We track anonymized user information to improve our website.
  • _ga
  • _gid
  • _gat

Απορρίψη όλων των υπηρεσιών
Save
Δέχομαι όλες τις υπηρεσίες