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Entering the new year with old-rooted problems: Russia convicted by ECtHR for violating the human rights in the Transnistrian region, in the case of Ilie Cazac
On January 7, 2019, the European Court of Human Rights published the judgment in the case of Ilie Cazac and Stela Surchicean vs Moldova and Russia. The High Court found the Russian Federation guilty of violating the right not to be subjected to torture and inhuman treatment, guilty of violating the right not to be subject to torture and inhuman treatment and the right to liberty and security in the in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.
The case of kidnapping Ilie Cazac by the Transnistrian militia, was made public by his mother at the beginning of 2010. Ilie Cazac, 25 years old then, was employed in the Tax Inspectorate of Tighina municipality, a locality under the control of the illegal Tiraspol administration. On March 19, 2010, he was “detained” in Varnița, being accused of “high treason and espionage in favor of the Republic of Moldova”.
On February 9, 2011, following a closed “trial”, deprived of essential rights such as that of having a lawyer or meeting with relatives, Ilie Cazac was sentenced to 14 years of prison.
For more than a year and a half the parents of the young man, the lawyers from the Promo-LEX Association, and many international organizations have made efforts to release him. Finally, Ilie Cazac was released on October 31, 2011, being granted a “pardon” by the leader of the separatist region.
The High Court of Strasbourg acknowledged that the Russian Federation violated art. 3 providing for the prohibition of torture, art. 5 paragraph 1 referring to the right to freedom and security and art. 6 paragraph 1 regarding the right to a fair trial.
Thus, according to the judgment issued by the European Court of Human Rights, the Government of the Russian Federation shall pay EUR 42 000 as moral damages for the applicants and EUR 4000 as costs and expenses for representation.
The plaintiffs were represented by lawyers and legal experts from Promo-LEX Association.
For more details, please contact: Alexandru Postica, Lawyer, Program Director, Promo-LEX Association, Tel: (22) 450024, GSM: 069104851, e-mail: [email protected]