On 26 February 2008 the Orenburg regional court cancelled the judgment of the Buguruslan district court that had sentenced two police officers to 7 years in a penal colony for torturing Mr. Lyamov from Buguruslan. Having tried the cassation appeal of the indictees, the regional court decided that the Buguruslan district court had breached the Criminal Procedural Code while delivering the judgment.

You may remember that more than 2 years ago, on 19 December 2005, Mr. Lyamov was battered by two district police officers  from the Buguruslan City Department of Internal Affairs.  After that he spent several hours lying on the floor in the police station hall and no one helped him. When they finally called an ambulance the doctors could only state that Mr. Lyamov was dead. The police told the doctor the victim’s name, but later the police officer on duty from the Buguruslan Department reported to the regional Department of Internal Affairs that they had found an unidentified body.

Upon the application of the victim’s relatives the Bashkiria office of the Committee against Torture started an investigation.

The forensic medical examination conducted by the Regional Forensic Medical Examination Bureau of Orenburg showed that Mr. Lyamov had had multiple life-time injuries – abrasions and contusions on the face, head, apoplexy, breakage of neck-bones and other injuries.

Lawyers of the Multiregional Committee against Torture pressed for initiation of a criminal case against the police officers who had battered Mr.Lyamov, at present the Committee continues rendering legal assistance to the victim’s relatives and provides a lawyer that represents their interests in court.

    The Committee against Torture is disappointed because of the yesterday’s decision of the Orenburg court. This judgment means that the victim’s rights that were violated by law enforcement bodies are still not restored and the relatives’ legal interests are not remedied by the state.