MOSCOW, November 14 (RAPSI) - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held Thursday that the 30-day detention of a boy with special needs was unjustified, thus ordering Russia to pay out EUR 7,500 in non-pecuniary damages and EUR 1,493 in costs and expenses.

When applicant Ivan Blokhin (b. 1992) was 12 years old, he was arrested and told that he had been accused by his 9-year-old neighbor of extortion. He had initially signed a concession statement, but then rescinded his confession when his guardian arrived at the police station, according to a statement released by the ECHR.

Blokhin was suffering at the time from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and enuresis.

According to the statement, prosecuting authorities found that elements of the crime of extortion had been satisfied, but opted not to open a criminal case against Blokhin for extortion owing to the fact that he had not yet reached the age of criminal culpability.

He was, however, placed in a juvenile detention center for 30 days by order of the court in order to prevent his involvement in more shenanigans, according to the statement. After he was released from the detention center, Blokhin underwent hospital treatments for neurosis and ADHD.

The order had been anchored in the testimony of the 9-year-old alleged victim and his mother, as well as in Blokhin’s statement of confession. His guardian appealed the detention, and won the appeal. When the court re-examined the case the following year, however, the detention order was deemed lawful.

Blokhin filed an application with the ECHR in November 2006 claiming that the juvenile detention center had inhuman and medically inadequate conditions, and claiming that the fact that he was questioned by police without his guardian and that he was not afforded the opportunity to cross-examine his two witnesses evidenced a lack of fairness in the proceedings against him.

The court found that his rights had been violated in light of the Convention’s Article 3 prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment, Article 5, Section 1 right to liberty and security, and the Article 6, Sections 1 and 3 right to a fair trial.