The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Ukraine to pay a Kharkiven Svetlana Pomilyaiko 20 thousand euros for violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, according to the court decision published on the website of human rights protection group.
The applicant claimed to pay her 70 thousand euros for moral damages for the torture in the Ordzhonikidze district department of Kharkiv. The Ukrainian government contested these claims to be unsubstantiated.
“The Court considers that the applicant suffered non-pecuniary damage which can not be compensated by the mere finding of a violation of her rights under the Convention. Taking into account the circumstances of the present case and deciding on an equitable basis, as required by Article 41, the Court awards the applicant 20,000 euros for non-pecuniary damage adding any tax that may be charged on that amount,” was said in the court decision.
Reference. Two employees of design office of Kharkiv Tile Plant, one of whom was Pomilyaiko, accused Ordzhonikidze police department officers of the use of torture during interrogation on November 8th, 2008. The women were accused of the office equipment stealing.
Pomilyaiko stated that the other detainee was tortured with pliers. Three police officers were suspected in the torture. The prosecutor’s office of Kharkiv region has opened a criminal case on the fact of abuse of employees district department official powers, but eventually reversed the decision to institute the criminal proceedings. In 2011, Pomilyaiko filed a complaint to the ECHR.
