The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has fined Russia 148,000 euros ($197,000) for kidnapping two Chechen villagers in 2002 and 2004, the court said in a statement on Thursday.
Relatives of Ruslan Taimuskhanov and Shamkhan Tumayev complained to the ECHR about the inefficient investigation into the disappearance of the two men, who were allegedly abducted by the Russian military.
The Strasbourg court ruled that the Russian authorities were responsible for the disappearance and Russia had violated a range of articles in the Convention on Human Rights, including the right to life, inhuman and degrading treatment, and unacknowledged detention.
The court ordered Russia to pay 17,000 euro in material damages, 125,000 euros in moral damages and 6,500 euros in compensation for court expenses.
The ECHR also ordered Russia on Thursday to pay former Federal Security Services officer Mikhail Trepashkin 10,500 euros for poor treatment during his detention on espionage charges from 2003 to 2005.
Under the European Convention on Human Rights, Russia has three months to appeal both rulings in the court's Grand Chamber.
Russia has lost most of its cases in the Strasbourg Court. Last year, suits against Russia accounted for more than one quarter of all cases filed in the court.
PARIS, December 16 (RIA Novosti)
