CASE OF KRYUTCHENKO v. RUSSIA
Violation of Article 3 - Prohibition of torture (Article 3 - Inhuman punishment;Inhuman treatment) (Substantive aspect);Violation of Article 3 - Prohibition of torture (Article 3 - Effective investigation) (Procedural aspect)
Alena Poláčková;Dmitry Dedov
4. The applicant was born in 1960 and lives in Orsk. 5. On 28 May 2005 the applicant, who was walking home after an evening drinking, was stopped on the street by police officers from the patrol and inspection service and driven to the Sovetskiy district police station of Orsk (Советское РОВД г. Орска). He attempted to run away, but was stopped and assaulted by the police officers, who kicked him in the stomach. He felt unwell and lost consciousness. The police officers placed him in a cell and did not react when he demanded that they call an ambulance. 6. The applicant was released the next morning. On the evening of 29 May 2005 he was admitted to hospital with internal bleeding. He spent six weeks in hospital. 7. According to forensic medical expert report no. 3634 of 25 July 2005, the applicant had blunt abdominal trauma with a ruptured intestine, which had provoked the development of serofibrinous peritonitis. This injury had been caused by impact with a hard, blunt object, possibly one to two days before the applicant’s hospitalisation, and had caused him “serious health damage”. The applicant also had abrasions on his back and forearms, and circular abrasions on his wrist joints, which had originated from impact with hard, blunt objects during the same period, and had not caused him any “health damage”. 8. Forensic medical expert report no. 5684 of 14 December 2011 contained similar information concerning the applicant’s injuries. The expert considered that the injuries had been caused several hours to several days before the applicant’s hospitalisation. The expert excluded the possibility that they had been caused as a result of him falling over. 9. On 29 May 2005 the Orsk police received information about the applicant’s hospitalisation in Town Hospital no. 2 with blunt abdominal trauma and abrasions on his body. 10. On 14 June 2005 an investigator from the Orsk Sovetskiy district prosecutor’s office opened a criminal case under Article 111 § 3 of the Criminal Code (physical assault causing “serious health damage”). 11. On 11 July 2005 the applicant was granted victim status and questioned. 12. On 14 October 2005 the preliminary investigation into the criminal case was suspended under Article 208 § 1 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, owing to the inability to identify the individuals to be charged. 13. On 31 January and 25 April 2012 the preliminary investigation into the criminal case was restarted, in view of the need to take additional investigative measures. 14. On 1 March and 18 July 2012 the preliminary investigation into the criminal case was suspended again, on the same grounds as before. 15. In 2012 the applicant brought a civil claim against various State authorities, including the Russian Ministry of Finance, seeking 6,000,000 Russian roubles (RUB) in compensation for his illtreatment at the police station and the lack of an effective investigation into his complaint. 16. On 24 July 2012 the Leninskiy District Court of Orsk allowed the applicant’s claim in part and awarded him RUB 150,000 (the equivalent of about 3,800 euros) in compensation. It established that the applicant had been taken into police custody in good health and that his injuries had been caused at the police station, since the State authorities had failed to provide a plausible explanation for the injuries or any evidence showing that he could have sustained them elsewhere. 17. On 9 October 2012 the Orenburg Regional Court upheld the judgment on appeal.