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Russia may appeal ECHR’s decision on compensation for defendant in Nemtsov murder case

The ministry said that the court’s ruling had not found any violations that might serve as a basis for withdrawing the court’s decisions and the announced verdict on the criminal case
Portraits of Russian politician Boris Nemtsov  Sergei Fadeichev/TASS
Portraits of Russian politician Boris Nemtsov
© Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/. The Russian Justice Ministry does not rule out the possibility of appealing against the decision made by the European Court on Human Rights (ECHR) on payment of 6,000 euros in compensation to Temirlan Eskerkhanov convicted of involvement in the murder of Russian politician Boris Nemtsov, the ministry reported.

"The European Court has partially satisfied the corresponding claims regarding imprisonment and transport conditions, as well as delays in the appeals proceedings. Making such decisions by the European Court is a regular practice that has been applied in similar cases regarding many states that are members of the Convention [on Human Rights]," the Justice Ministry said in its report.

The ministry said that the court’s ruling had not found any violations that might serve as a basis for withdrawing the court’s decisions and the announced verdict on the criminal case.

"The ruling of the European Court has entered into effect and cannot be appealed against," the Justice Ministry added.

Gubashev brothers’ appeal declined

The Justice Ministry reiterated that two other case defendants - Anzor Gubashev and Shadid Gubashev - also appealed to the ECHR, complaining about conditions of their transfer to and from prison, the conditions of their detention in the convoy cell, the length of their pre-trial detention and about excessively long proceedings in the judicial review of their detention. "Russian authorities declined the European Court’s proposal to reach a friendly settlement with the applicants due to disagreement with their claims. The Russian side drew the ECHR’s attention to the violation by the applicants and their process agents of the established privacy rules, in particular, by informing a number of mass media outlets on the procedure and terms for the type of a friendly settlement proposed by the European Court," the Justice Ministry noted. As a result, the ECHR agreed with the reasoning of the Russian authorities and recognized the Gubashev brothers’ complaints as improper due to the violation of the Convention’s requirements on the confidential character of friendly settlements.

Earlier, the dispute was settled by Russia’s authorities in the form of a pre-trial agreement, according to which the government obliged to pay 6,000 euros to Eskerkhanov, 6,500 euros to Anzor Gubashev and 6,500 euros to Shadid Gubashev. Russia’s authorities are obliged to pay compensation to Eskerkhanov within three months.

On July 13, Moscow District Military Court sentenced Temirlan Eskerkhanov, Anzor Gubashev and Shadid Gubashev to 14, 19 and 16 years of imprisonment respectively. Murderer Zaur Dadaev was given 20 years of imprisonment and the fifth defendant, Khamzat Bakhaev, 11 years.

Oppositionist and co-chairman of the Parnas party Boris Nemtsov was shot on February 27, 2015, in downtown Moscow. Four bullets struck Nemtsov in the back while he was crossing the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge. He died at the scene.