The ECHR awarded compensation to St. Petersburg residents who were beaten by riot police after the coordinated “March of Dissent”

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has published a decision in the case of beaten by security forces participants of the agreed "March of Dissent", held on April 15, 2007 in St. Petersburg.

After the end of the "March", law enforcement officers considered that a new public event, not coordinated with the authorities, namely the procession, began next. As a result, OMON fighters roughly dispersed about 60 people, including passers-by who did not participate in the March. Alexander Kazantsev, Natalia Kazantseva and Olga Tsepilova were injured. In the Russian courts, it was not possible to achieve a fair investigation into the case of the beating, and the Petersburgers turned to the ECHR.

In a decision dated June 16, 2020, the ECtHR indicates that Russia violated Articles 3 (prohibition of torture) and 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the European Convention on Human Rights . In addition, the ECtHR noted that due to the fact that the security forces were wearing helmets and without identification marks, it was not possible to identify those who used violence against the Kazantsevs and Tsepilova.

The ECtHR ruled to pay damages: 22,520 euros to Alexander Kazantsev, 19,500 euros to Olga Tsepilova and 4,054 euros to Natalia Kazantseva, as well as 2,500 euros each to compensate for legal costs to all three applicants.

“Together with the applicants, we have been waiting for this decision for a very long time, since the events concerned the first agreed mass public protest in St. in the metro (Alexander Kazantsev with his wife). <...> The fact that the policemen were wearing helmets and had no identifying marks on their uniforms was called an “objective obstacle” to the identification of the OMON officers who beat civilians, and investigations by the authorities. But this is absurd! The investigation for four years could not establish them.

The ECtHR considered that the police intervention and the force used were disproportionate and unacceptable within the meaning of Article 11 § 2 of the Convention.

I fully agree with the Court's finding that the use of disproportionate force by the police had the "chilling effect" and intimidation of others from participating in similar public gatherings. With compensation, Alexander Kazantsev will continue the treatment of those injuries and consequences that he received when he was beaten by an riot police officer at a peaceful rally many years ago,” comments on the decision. Olga Tseytlina, lawyer for the Memorial HRC,

• You can read about the Kazantsev and Others v. Russia case in a detailed publication by Memorial Human Rights Center.