European Court of Human Rights awards 50 Russians more than a million euros in police brutality ruling

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Russia to pay more than a million euros in compensation to 50 Russian citizens who complained about experiencing torture and illegal searches at the hands of police. MBK Media first reported on the ruling in Russian, citing four different ECHR orders.

835,000 euros were awarded to 29 Russians who had been tortured by police. Fourteen of them said they had been tortured through electric shocks, six said they were suffocated with plastic bags, and two said they were tortured using gas masks. A number of complainants said they were also threatened with rape and escalating criminal charges.

The ECHR also awarded 180,000 euros to 21 Russian attorneys who said they were subject to illegal searches. The Court found that the attorneys’ privacy rights under Article Eight of the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated.

Russia’s Constitutional Court already has the authority to refuse enforcement of ECHR decisions. New constitutional reforms proposed by Vladimir Putin could strengthen the supremacy of Russian law over international law even further.