Today the criminal division of the Nizhny Novgorod regional court has sustained the appeal of the Interregional Committee Against Torture filed in the interests of Natalia Tormozova from Nizhny Novgorod who had earlier reported that her son Alexey had been beaten by the police in the Leninsky district Directorate of the Interior of Nizhny Novgorod. Thus, the previous decision of the Leninsky district court rendering the refusal to instigate criminal proceedings under the Tormozovs’ application lawful is quashed, the case file is submitted to the first instance court for a new trial on the merits by a different judge. Perhaps, having studied the appeal and the arguments of the ICAT anew, the Leninsky district court will find the refusal to instigate criminal proceedings on the allegations of tortures ill-founded.

   You may remember that the Committee has been pressing for instigation of criminal proceedings and effective inquiry under Alexey Tormozov’s application for two years and a half.  Alexey Tormozov accuses officers of the Leninsky DIA of Nizhny Novgorod of cruel beatings which allegedly took place on 22 June 2008. It should be noted that at that moment Alexey was underage, but this fact did not prevent the abuse.

   Lawyers of the Committee engaged in the public investigation of that incident concluded that the state had breached Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (prohibition of torture and ill-treatment).