On 12 may 2014 the Leninskiy District Court of Orenburg city examined the compensation claim lodged on behalf of Sergey Ivanov, who had been in March 2012 severely beaten by police officer Oleg Litvishko. Despite the obvious suffering the plaintiff had sustained – the battery had resulted in spleen removal – the court awarded the victim 150 thousand rubles only. Human rights defenders with the Committee Against Torture believe the compensation to be disproportionate to the grave damage and to be inconsistent with the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. They are going to appeal against the decision.
(Photo: Sergey Ivanov after his operation)
(Photo: Oleg Litvishko)
In March 2012 Orenburg citizen Sergey Ivanov applied to the Orenburg regional branch of the Committee Against Torture seeking help. The man told the human rights defenders that on 14 March 2012 he had been beaten severely by a policeman. Later Sergey underwent a surgery to have his spleen removed.
On 25 March 2013 the Dzerzhinsky District Court of Orenburg city delivered a sentence against ex-policeman Oleg Litvishko. He was found guilty of criminal offenses under article 286 (3) (a) and (c) of the RF Criminal Code (exceeding official powers committed with the use of violence with the infliction of grave consequences) and sentenced to 4-year prison term to be served in general regime (minimum security) penal colony. On 20 May 2013, the Orenburg Regional Court upheld that mild sentence. Later, the Court of Cassation (the Presidency of the Orenburg Regional Court) dismissed an appeal against the decision.
After Oleg Litvishko’s conviction had entered into force, lawyers working with the Committee Against Torture, who represent Segey Ivanov’s interests, filed a compensation claim on his behalf. On 12 May 2014 the Leninskiy District Court partly sustained the victim’s request, and awarded him 150 thousand rubles in compensation for moral damage. The plaintiff asked the court for more than 3 million rubles.
«We are indeed astonished at Orenburg judges being that loyal to the ex-policeman responsible for the crime. Firstly, judges imposed a minimum punishment on Mr Litvishko (by the way, he is rumored to have been granted an early release), now they have awarded the tiniest compensation, which is likely to be recovered from the convicted through action of recourse. Of course, we will appeal against this decision, for it’s disproportionate to the grave damage and inconsistent with the case-law of the European Court», says lawyer of the Orenburg regional branch of the Committee Against Torture, Albina Mudarisova.