Press Release, 16.06.2020

Photo: bruised Olga Tsepilova

On 16 June, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg issued a decision on the case of the participants of the March of Dissent who were beaten by the police forces during the March in St.Petersburg on April 15, 2007.  Riot policemen roughly dispersed about 60 people, including passers-by who did not participate in the March. Olga Tsepilova, Chair of the Green Russia faction of the Yabloko party, as well as passers-by Alexander Kazantsev and Natalia Kazantseva, were injured.

In a decision of June 16, 2020, the ECHR indicates that Russia violated Articles 3 (ban on torture) and 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the Geneva Convention. In addition, the ECHR noted that due to the fact that the security forces were wearing helmets and were without identification marks, it was impossible to identify those who used violence against the Kazantsevs and Tsepilova.

The ECHR ruled out that damages should be paid: EUR 22.520 to Alexander Kazantsev, EUR 19.500 to Olga Tsepilova and EUR 4,054 to Natalya Kazantseva, as well as 2,500 euros of legal costs to all three applicants.

Olga Tsepilova, head of the Green Russia faction of the Yabloko party, emphasised that she was generally satisfied with the Court’s decision, but regrets that the police officers who were responsible for beating peaceful demonstrators and passers-by did not receive any punishment.

“It was a thorny path, 13 years long, that we went along with our wonderful lawyer Olga Tseytlina, encountering constant rudeness on the part of the authorities and even destruction of documents and medical records. We managed to achieve moral compensation, and most importantly, recognition of our rights – not to be beaten by the police at a permitted peaceful rally,” the ecologist noted.

“If they wished, the police could easily establish the identities of the riot police who beat us, because the police were video recording what was happening,” Tsepilova added.

It should be noted that after the end of the March on April 15, 2007, law enforcement officers considered that a new public event, namely a demonstration, had already begun, and it had not been not agreed with the authorities. As a result, riot policemen roughly dispersed about 60 people, including passers-by who did not participate in the March. Alexander Kazantsev, Natalia Kazantseva and Olga Tsepilova were injured. The applicants failed to achieve in Russian courts a fair investigation into the beating, and, thus, they appealed to the ECHR.