ECtHR finds investigation into Estemirova’s assassination ineffective

Today, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has noted that the Russian authorities provided it with an incomplete copy of the case file on the murder of human rights defender Natalia Estemirova, but there is reason to doubt the effectiveness of the investigation into the case on the murder. The ECtHR requested Russia to find and punish the persons guilty of the murder.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 15, 2009, Natalia Estemirova, an employee of the Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”*, was kidnapped, taken to Ingushetia, and killed.

“The Court found that the government’s failure to provide a full copy of the criminal case file had undermined its ability to assess the quality of the investigation. Given the above failure the Court was unable to conclude that the investigation had been carried out thoroughly, particularly taking into account the material in the Court’s possession and that certain contradictions in the expert evidence remained unsolved led it to doubt that the investigation had been effective. Taking into account that the criminal investigation is still open, the Court indicated that the authorities should, if possible, attempt to ascertain the circumstances of Ms Estemirova’s abduction and murder, identify the perpetrators, and punish those responsible, where appropriate,” reports the press release posted on the ECtHR’s website.

The ECtHR also pointed out that “it was unable to accept the argument of Svetlana Estemirova, a sister of the murdered journalist and the applicant in the case, that this was a prima facie case of abduction by state agents. It did not switch the burden of proof to the government. In particular it noted that much of her evidence was hearsay, and there had been no signs of the involvement of State agents,” the ECtHR notes in its press release.

* the HRC "Memorial" is recognized in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 31, 2021 at 12:25 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.