On April 25, 2012 the Orenburg regional court heard the cassation appeal of INGO “Committee Against Torture” against the district court judgment under Lyubov Molodtsova’s claim and held that the Russian Finance Ministry should pay the applicant 160 000 rubles as compensation of moral damage incurred to her by her brother Vasily Lyamov’s death.
We would like to remind you that on December 19, 2005 Aksakovo resident Valery Lyamov was detained and ill-treated by district police officer Valery Prytkov and after that delivered to the Buguruslan District Department of Internal Affairs. For several hours the detainee had been lying in the lobby seen by the duty officer and another police agent. Emergency doctors summoned with a great delay established Lyamov’s death.
The Orenburg Regional Forensic Medical Examination Bureau conducted a forensic examination which determined that Lyamov had had numerous intravital injuries – bruises and abrasions on the face and soft tissues of the head, cerebral apoplexy, ruptures in neck bones, etc. The death was caused by a neck bone fracture. The victim’s head had been drawn back to the limit and abruptly twisted to the right.
On February 8, 2012 the unlawful judgment delivered by Leninsky district court judge Yulia Dontsova dismissing the suit was quashed. Besides Ms. Dontsova, striking ignorance of domestic and international law was demonstrated during two hearings both by the adversary (Treasury and police lawyers) and prosecutorial workers who unanimously asked the court to dismiss Maslova’s claim on the grounds that she had failed to prove the link between her brother’s death and actions/omissions of the police. Judge Dontsova and the like minded were not even disturbed by the fact that the applicant’s suit was based on the verdict of guilt passed by the Buguruslan court which had become final and binding for all state authorities. The verdict holds that Lyamov was detained in good health and released already dead. Such solidarity of prosecutors and the police once again illustrates the reluctance of regional authorities to investigate arbitrary treatment by law enforcers.
The respondent party and Prosecutor’s Office have two weeks to appeal against the Orenburg regional court judgment under Lyubov Maslova’s suit.