ECtHR treats transfer of Chechen resident to remote penal colony as violation

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has recognized transfer of convicts to penal colonies located far away from their home as violation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Among others, family members of Ali Khadjiev, sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment, who is serving his sentence at the Blagoveschensk penal colony of the Amur Region, have also filed a complaint to the ECtHR.

On March 7, the ECtHR pronounced the judgment in the case of "Polyakov and others vs Russia", which combined four complaints filed by relatives of detainees transported far away from their homes. Among others, Natalia Kibalo, a resident of Chechnya, and her two minor daughters also filed a complaint to the ECtHR, reported the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

"For a long time, Natalia did not have a possibility to visit her husband. As far as the minor complainants are concerned, then from the moment of his arrest, Ali Khadjiev saw his eldest daughter only once and never saw his youngest daughter, since she was born when he was already in custody," reports the message released by the "Memorial".

"The ECtHR has recognized that keeping in custody of the husband and father of the complainants at a penal colony located far from home violates their right to respect for family life (Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms). The ECtHR obliged the Russian authorities to compensation to the complainants for non-pecuniary damage in the amount of 6000 euros," reports today the website of the HRC "Memorial".

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.