The ECHR ordered the Russian authorities to pay compensation to journalists and human rights activists who suffered in an attack on the border of Chechnya and Ingushetia

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Russian law enforcement officials failed to act in the case of an attack on a minibus with participants in a press tour on the border of Chechnya and Ingushetia in March 2016. In connection with this, Russia was ordered to pay compensation in the amount of six thousand euros to each injured journalist and human rights activist.

The organizers of the lawsuit, the Committee Against Torture and Agora, stated that the Russian authorities violated the victims' rights to freedom from torture, expression of opinion, and the right to an effective investigation.

In 2016, unknown masked men attacked a bus with journalists and human rights activists on the border of Ingushetia and Chechnya. The transport was heading to a press tour dedicated to human rights violations in Chechnya. The passengers were severely beaten, and their personal belongings and equipment were stolen. The attackers set the minibus on fire and fled.

The Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case into the crime, and the head of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov emphasized that a prompt investigation is "a matter of honor for law enforcement agencies." However, everything ended with the interrogation of those who were on the bus: the victims stopped receiving any information about the investigation, and the attackers were never found.

The case involves media workers and human rights activists, including Ekaterina Vanslova, Bashir Pliev, Anton Prusakov, Mikhail Solunin, Ivan Zhiltsov, Alexandrina Elagina, Nikita Protsenko and Norwegian journalist Eystein Windstad.

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