Photo source: Djtm / CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo source: Djtm / CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo source: Djtm / CC BY-SA 3.0

Human Rights

ECHR imposed interim measures on a complaint of torture in Surgut

Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area,   France

On February 26, 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered the Russian government to urgently send for a medical examination 57-year-old Sergey Loginov, one of 7 Surgut residents who reported torture in the building of the Investigative Committee. Sergey Loginov is the only one of these seven who is in custody.

According to the order of the Strasbourg court, the Russian government must send Sergey Loginov for examination to a medical institution independent of the Investigative Committee and the penitentiary authorities by March 20, 2019, in order to examine his physical and psychological condition, as well as the harm allegedly caused to him by torture on February 15 and 16, 2019. Doctors must determine whether he needs treatment and whether his condition is compatible with his further stay behind bars. By March 11, 2019, opinions prepared by independent doctors must be submitted to the European Court.

The complaint "Loginov and Others v. Russia" was prepared and submitted to the European Court in a short time, it was assigned the number 10618/19.

Three believers, Sergey Loginov, Yevgeny Fedin and Artur Severinchik, were sent to jail in connection with this case. They are in a pre-trial detention center in Nizhnevartovsk (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area). There were no reports that Yevgeny Fedin and Artur Severinchik were tortured. Earlier in Surgut (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug), mass searches and detentions of citizens suspected of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses took place. At least 7 people reported that they were beaten and tortured during interrogations in the building of the Investigative Committee. In total, 20 local residents, including a woman, became defendants in this case. On February 16, 2019, the hotline of the Investigative Committee of Russia received an appeal with a request to take action in connection with reports of torture of Sergey Loginov.

Law enforcers mistakenly mistake citizens' religion for participation in the activities of an extremist organization, referring to a court decision to liquidate and ban the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses organizations in Russia.

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The Case of Loginov and Others in Surgut

Case History
In February 2019, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiated a criminal case against 18 men and 1 woman from Surgut (among them was a man mistakenly taken for one of Jehovah’s Witnesses). Their homes were searched. During the interrogations, 7 believers were subjected to violence. Artur Severinchik was sent to the pre-trial detention center for 29 days, and Yevgeniy Fedin and Sergey Loginov—for 56. Timofey Zhukov was unlawfully placed in a psychiatric hospital for 14 days. Believers filed complaints about the use of torture with the Investigative Committee, the ECHR and the Commissioner for Human Rights, a press conference was held with the participation of human rights defenders, but none of the law enforcement officers was brought to justice. In October 2021, the materials of the case, which in 2020 was separated into a different proceeding, went to court. Two years later, the court sentenced all believers to a suspended term from 4 to 7 years. In February 2025, the court of appeal upheld this verdict. A few months later, Igor Petrov learned that he had been deprived of Russian citizenship. He challenged this, and in June 2026, the Court of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area reinstated his rights.
Timeline

Persons in case

Kim
Artem
Boronos
Vyacheslav
Burenesku
Vasily
Fedin
Evgeny
Fefilov
Victor
Gargalyk
Saveliy
Petrov
Igor
Kayryak
Evgeny
Kobotov
Igor
Logins
Sergey
Plekhov
Aleksey
Romashov
Paul
Rysikov
Leonid
Severinchik
Arthur
Shepel
Viola
Trifonov
Igor
Volosnikov
Sergey
Zhukov
Timofey

Criminal case

Region:
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area
Locality:
Surgut
Suspected of:
delivered talks, engaged in the public preaching activity with local Jehovah's Witnesses, conducted meetings with 'pioneers', 'elders', and 'ministerial servants', including aiming at organizing the activity of the 'elders' in the 'Vzletnoye Congregation'
Court case number:
42002007709000023
Initiated:
February 11, 2019
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department for the city of Surgut of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1), 282.3 (1), 282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-27/2023 (1-130/2022; 1-1348/2021)
Court:
Surgut City Court
Judge:
Dmitriy Lyupin
Case History
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