The ECHR ordered the Russian authorities to pay 37,000 euros to the father of a conscript who tried to commit suicide repeatedly while in the service

Investigators refused to initiate a criminal case
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered the Russian government to pay to Saitgarai Khabirov 20,000 euros in compensation for moral damages for the death of his son as a result of a suicide attempt in the Army and 17,300 euros in compensation for legal expenses. This was reported by Pavel Chikov, head of the Agora human rights group.

The court found that the Russian authorities had violated Article 14 of the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights concerning the right to life. The investigation into the case continued for 15 years. The court reminded that the conscripts were under total control of the authorities. He also stressed that the investigation agencies failed to conduct an effective investigation into the soldier’s death.

We should remind you that in June 2005, 19-year-old Radik Khabirov was called up for military service. He made his first suicide attempt in a training unit in Saratov. He escaped from the unit twice, but both times he was brought back. Also, doctors diagnosed an enlisted man with a skin disease, which, according to the ECHR ruling, excludes him from military service. In January, he attempted suicide again. Doctors gave him first aid, but the soldier fell into a coma. After that, he was discharged from the army.

He returned home in a coma weighing 28 kilograms (in total, he lost 50 kilograms). Doctors reported that the young man had suffered the death of the main part of his cerebral cortex.

In February of 2006 the investigators refused to bring a criminal case on incitement to suicide (article 110 of the Criminal Code). That decision was later reversed, but a new investigation was halted in December 2006.

The investigators decided that no one was responsible for the alleged incitement to suicide. Military investigators also refused to open a criminal case of negligence (article 293 of the Criminal Code) – “in connection with the absence of signs of a crime in the actions of the officers of the military unit. The chief of Totsk military hospital was dismissed from military service.