MOSCOW, April 24 (RAPSI) - The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Russian military officials failed to take action to prevent the death of draftee Mikhail Perevedentsev – found hanging in his military unit – and that they failed to prevent various violations during the investigation of the case.

The ECHR found that Russia breached Article 2 (The right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights, and ordered the government to pay almost 46,400 euros in damages to the parents of the deceased. The court also ruled that violations were committed during the inquiry into Perevedentsev’s death.

Perevedentsev was found dead in his military unit on February 16, 2004, with a rope around his neck. In the ensuing investigation, the military prosecutor’s office found that the conscript had been very reserved, highly sensitive and even mentally unstable. It was also reported that he had been unable to establish a good rapport with senior officers and fellow recruits. Based on some of Perevedentsev’s letters and on the testimonies of his fellow recruits, evidently, the harassment of subordinates was commonplace in the military unit.

The military prosecutor’s office concluded that Perevedentsev committed suicide because of personal issues, in addition to which, he was supposedly dreading a transfer from the army kennels to an artillery squadron where he could become the victim of bullying by senior officers.

The soldier’s case was tried in a Russian court. However, in October 2010 the court ruled that the investigation be closed due to the lack of evidence of any crime.