ECHR awards record damages to Ukrainian victim of police brutality
Bogdan Savitskyy has first group disability status following an encounter with the police in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The European Court of Human Rights has just announced its Chamber Judgment concerning the application he made against the Ukrainian government for violation of Articles 3 (prohibition of torture and ill-treatment), 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial) and 34 (right of individual petition) of the European Convention. He alleged that after going to a bar in August 1998, three police officers had beaten him up, causing him double fractures to the spine.
He also complained that there had been no effective investigation into that incident; that he had had no access to the investigation case file; and that he had not been able to effectively participate in the investigation as he had had no access to legal advice. He alleged that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial), and that the Ukrainian authorities had refused to implement a judgment of October 2006 allowing his request for copies of the procedural decisions taken in the course of the examination of his complaints of ill-treatment. He also cited Article 34 (right of individual petition), asserting that the authorities had hindered his effective application to the European Court of Human
Rights, as they had refused to give him access to the necessary documents.
The amount awarded Mr Savitskyy in both pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages (150 thousand EUR of which 100 thousand is for moral compensation) is a record for Ukraine.
The judgment can be downloaded here