European Court of Human Rights Hears First Case Brought By Individual Russian

On September 18, 2001, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg heard the first of many cases brought against the Russian Government by a Russian individual. Valery Kalashnikov, head of the North-east Commercial Bank who was convicted of embezzlement in 1999, brought the case for alleged abuses after charges were first brought against him in 1995. Mr. Kalashnikov claims that was detained in an over-crowded, noisy and unsanitary cell where prisoners had to sleep in shifts, live with inmates suffering from tuberculosis and syphilis, was beat up and refused visits by his family.