The Committee against Torture has conducted a public investigation and revealed that the accused under the case of the Birsk maniac were tortured. Photo: one of torture victims – Roman Mindibayev.

    The Committee against Torture has finished the public investigation under the application of Rudik Minibayev, Roman Mindibayev and Ivan Smirnov from Birsk, Bashkiria. The Committee against Torture has detected that art.3 “Prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment”, art. 5 “Right to liberty and security of person”, and art. 13 “Right to an effective remedy” of the European Convention were violated in respect of the applicants.

   The Prosecutor’s office accused those citizens of killing a woman, they were detained and placed in custody, later criminal proceedings were terminated. Rudik Minibayev and Roman Mindibayev were again charged with a criminal offense only after they were awarded compensations of moral damage for unlawful criminal prosecution. Ivan Smirnov managed to avoid this fate, probably because he had refrained from lodging a civil suit. The Committee against Torture is going to file an application with the European court due to exhaustion of domestic remedies for these individuals.