On December 1, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found a violation of the prohibition on torture against Ruslan Gatagazhev, a native of Ingushetia, who was sentenced to life in prison on charges of kidnapping and murder.

"Gatagazhev complained about inadequate conditions of detention under a strict regime of deprivation of liberty," the case file stated. The ECHR recognized the violation of rights against Gatagazhev and ordered the Russian authorities to pay him EUR 3,000. 

In parallel, Ruslan Gatagazhev is suing the Federal Penitentiary Service in Russian courts. In April of this year, a court in the Sverdlovsk region partially satisfied his claim about inadequate detention conditions in IK-56. It was about the lack of sewerage and water supply in the cell, washing only once a week, censorship of correspondence, a ban on wearing a beard, and insufficient room capacity. For this, Gatagazhev was awarded compensation of EUR 2,429; he asked for EUR 45,552. The Sverdlovsk Regional Court upheld this decision in October.

Ruslan Gatagazhev's case once shook the North Caucasus, as he was accused of kidnapping residents of North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. According to the official version, since 1998, together with his accomplices, he has been kidnapping people and demanding a ransom. With his participation, 38 people were kidnapped, 11 of whom were killed because relatives could not ransom them. At the trial, the victims demanded that the accused be sentenced to death. The Supreme Court of North Ossetia sentenced him to life imprisonment.