The ECHR awarded 3,600 euros to the head of the Committee against Torture for detention in 2007

The European Court of Human Rights ordered Russia to pay 3,600 euros to the head of the Committee against Torture, Igor Kalyapin, for illegal detention at the March of Dissent in 2007. “Apology of Protest” reports this on its Telegram channel.

The ECHR found that during the detention of Kalyapin, Article 5 (the right to liberty and security of person) and Article 13 (the right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention on Human Rights were violated.

Kalyapin was detained on March 24, 2007 during the “March of Dissent,” which took place in Nizhny Novgorod without the consent of the mayor’s office. Kalyapin came to the rally as an observer of the actions of the police and to document the inhumane treatment towards the protesters.

Kalyapin was taken to the local police station, where he was kept for more than four hours and released without a report. At the march itself, up to 50 people were detained , many of them were brought to administrative responsibility.

In a conversation with MBKh Media, Kalyapin said that the court’s decision was a surprise to him. “It’s a pity that so much time has passed. Unfortunately, all those people who served in those days and committed violations are either retired or will now say that everything has changed since then and this is no longer the case. Although everyone understands perfectly well that under Article 31 of the Constitution nothing has changed, but it has only gotten worse,” said the head of the “Committee against Torture.”

The European Court communicated Kalyapin's complaint in May 2012. The activist was eventually awarded 1,000 euros in compensation for moral damages and 2,600 euros for legal costs.