PARIS, August 31. /TASS/. The European Court of Human Rights has found no evidence Russia violated Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights in the case of killed journalist Natalya Estemirova, as follows from a communique uploaded to the court's website on Tuesday.
The European Court of Human rights was unanimous "that there has been no violation [by the state - TASS] of Article 2 [the right to life - TASS] of the Convention," the communique runs. At the same time the court says that the Russian authorities had failed "to submit the complete criminal file," for which reason the ECHR was unable to conclude the investigation had been carried out thoroughly enough.
"Some of the experts’ conclusions…, which formed a basis for the investigators’ theory, appeared to be inconclusive or even contradictory," the ECHR said.
The ECHR "considers that the authorities should continue in so far as this proves feasible their efforts aimed at elucidating the circumstances of Estemirova’s abduction and murder, identifying the perpetrators, and punishing those responsible, where appropriate."
The applicant in the case was the journalist's sister, Svetlana Estemirova. She had filed a complaint concerning the abduction and murder of Natalya Estemirova and the investigation carried out.
The ECHR ruled that "the respondent state is to pay the applicant, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 §2 of the Convention, EUR 20,000 (twenty thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage."
Natalya Estemirova was abducted on July 15, 2009 near her home in Grozny and found dead on the same day near the village of Gazi-Yurt, the Nazran district of Ingushetia. The investigation established a likely participant in the abduction - one Alkhazur Bashayev. In 2010, he was charged in absentia. At that moment he was in hiding in France.