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A man sues the police department in Kazan that tortured his brother to death

Source: Meduza

Sergey Drozdov, whose brother was tortured to death by police in Kazan, has filed a lawsuit against Russia’s Interior Ministry, demanding 2.1 million rubles (almost $34,500) in compensation for psychological damage.

Drozdov says watching video camera surveillance of his brother’s death at the hands of five police officers has caused him enormous mental anguish. According to his lawyer, his lawsuit is in line with practices at the European Court of Human Rights.

What happened to the brother? 

In February 2012, police arrested Pavel Drozdov, the deputy director of the Kazan Railway College. Five officers tied his arms and legs behind his back and beat him, putting him in what’s called a lastochka torture position. After 15 minutes, Drozdov died.

Four times, investigators refused to open a criminal case following his death. Officials only opened an investigation eight months later, when human rights activists published video footage of police torturing Drozdov. The investigation went on for five years, and investigators tried to close the case three times.

In the spring of 2017, when Dorozdov’s brother appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, the Russian authorities suddenly arrested four of the officers responsible for the torture (the fifth officer had already died). In November 2017, all four were convicted of abusing their office and sentenced to three and a half and four years in prison.

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