Tamuza Akhmadova, the mother of Shamil Akhmadov arrested in a mop-up operation by federal troops in Chechnya and found dead a year later, and his widow Larisa Sadulayeva claimed that the Russian state had been involved in his death.
Failing to find justice with Russian courts, they turned to the European Court which finally ruled that the investigation had violated their basic rights and that the Russian state must pay them 15,000 euros jointly for pecuniary damage, 20,000 euros each for non-pecuniary damage, and 7,825 euros jointly as compensation for legal expenses.
Russia's envoy to the court Vera Milinchuk had said Russians were responsible for about a quarter of the lawsuits filed. She also said 197 of 207 Russian claims filed between 1999 and 2006 had been granted.
