In Adygea, defence of Bersirov family appeals to ECtHR

The defenders of the Bersirovs, whose family members died in autumn of 2008 in a road accident near Maikop, have appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) with a demand to nullify the decision to stop the criminal case and collect from the Russian Federation a moral compensation in the amount of two thousand euros. This was reported by Rafael Bersirov, a relative of the perished family members.

The accident involving Aslan Agirov, the head of the "Rospotrebnadzor" (Russian Federal Agency for Consumer Supervision) for the Republic of Adygea, occurred on November 4, 2008, 45 km off the city of Maikop in the daytime. The Toyota Camry driven by Agirov collided right on the dividing line with a VAZ-2107 car, driven by Askhad Bersirov. The collision killed four persons – members of the Bersirov family, including a one-year-old child.

On August 2, 2011, the Board of the Supreme Court of Adygea upheld the decision of the Shovgenovsk District Court to stop the criminal case with the formulation "because of the death of a potential guilty party of the road accident." The victims' cassation complaint was dismissed, the GTRK (State TV and Radio Company) of "Adygea" reports.

According to the experts, whose conclusion is presented in the materials of the investigation, the collision occurred on the road lane, where Agirov's car was moving, and where Bersirov's car got for unknown reasons.

Representatives of the Bersirov family conducted an independent examination, which concluded that the fault of the driver of the VAZ-2107 was not proved. According to their data, on the contrary, Agirov went against the oncoming traffic; later, he refused to be examined for alcohol content in his blood.

The lawyer Sergey Sanko and the victim Aslan Bersirov ask the ECtHR to nullify the decision of the Russian court to stop the case. According to the applicants, they (the courts) "had violated the right to fair trial and access to mechanisms of judicial defence as prescribed by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)." Besides, they believe that the conclusion of Russian courts that Askhad Bersirov was guilty of the accident was also illegal, the RIA "Novosti" reports.