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Serghei Apcov is another victim of the separatist structures in Tiraspol whose situation was brought to the attention of the European Court for Human Rights (ECtHR). Recently, the High Court informed the Moldovan government of the case Serghei Apcov v. Moldova and the Russian Federation, file no.13463/07.

On 21 January 2005, the applicant was arrested by the representatives of Tiraspol’s “law enforcement” on charges of robbery. He was held in preventive detention until 8 July 2005, when he was released on bail. During his detention, he was held in very bad conditions, together with people infected with HIV, and was subjected to inhuman and degrading treatments by the isolator’s personnel. The applicant claims that a doctor who used the same syringe on all the inmates from the cell infected him with HIV.

The applicant also claims that his procedural rights were violated because the victim have recognized the applicant in a photo as part of the investigation only two and a half years after the robbery was allegedly committed. Moreover, the applicant had an alibi, namely that he was in Russia at the time of the robbery, as confirmed by the respective stamps in his passport. The representatives of the secessionist force bodies nevertheless dismissed his alibi without any scrutiny.

On 29 August 2006, the Tiraspol city “court” sentenced the applicant to 7 years in jail. He was sent to a prison with extremely deprecate conditions. He was put in an overcrowded cell, had no daily walks, the served food was very bad, and he shared the cell with inmates with various contagious diseases.

On 26 September 2006, the “supreme court” in Tiraspol dismissed the applicant’s appeal.

In his application to the ECtHR, the applicant alleges a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention, citing ill treatment by the “militsia”, detention in inhuman and degrading conditions, and inadequate medical care. The applicant also claims that his detention by the representatives of the “transnistrian moldovan republic” is in violation of Art. 5.1 of the European Convention of Human Rights. With reference to the alleged proceedings, the applicant claims that he did not have a fair trial, as provided under Art. 6.1 of the Convention.

The case was filed with the European Court of Human Rights against Moldova and the Russian Federation, and the applicant is represented by lawyers from the Promo-LEX Association.

The details and facts of the case can be found here.

For more information, please contact: Pavel Postica, Promo-LEX Program Director, tel: (22) 450024, GSM: 069165154, email: [email protected]