Caravanserai

Tajik victim of hate crime in Russia applies to European Court of Human Rights

Caravanserai

MOSCOW -- Tajik native and Moscow resident Sulaimon Saidov, who was seriously injured by a hate crime in Russia, has formally complained to the Strasbourg, France-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) about the handling of his case in the Russian court system, according to a Wednesday (May 15) statement by the Moscow-based NGO Civic Assistance Committee.

Central Asian migrant workers in Russia have frequently noted instances of ethnically motivated violence, discrimination and harassment.

Russian authorities failed to consider the ethnic hatred motivating Saidov's assailant, which could have meant a heavier prison sentence as well as badly needed publicity spotlighting racial and ethnic discrimination in Russia, according to Saidov.

Sergei Tsaryov of Moscow shot Saidov several times with a non-lethal pistol on a Moscow subway train April 8, 2016. Saidov suffered serious injuries, including the loss of his right eye. He has been unable to support his wife and four children since.

A Moscow court last August sentenced Tsaryov to 10 years and 3 months in prison for attempted murder. However, the court ignored clear evidence, including Tsaryov's remarks during the shooting, that he acted out of racial and ethnic hatred, according to Saidov.

The court's handling of the case as a routine assault violates the European Convention on Human Rights, which Russia ratified in 1998, according to Saidov.

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Russia is a country of racists and fascists. And then Russians are wondering why they are bashed everywhere.

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Totally agree!!!!

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