European Court Says Russia Must Compensate Family of Georgian Deportation Victim

STRASBOURG, France - The European Court of Human Rights on Friday ruled that Russia must pay EUR 70 000 to the family of Georgian citizen Manana Jabelia, who died while being deported from Russia nearly a decade ago.

According to the family's lawyer, Pavle Beria, Russia has agreed to pay some form compensation to the Jabelia family and reimburse their court expenses.

51-year-old Jabelia, an ethnic Georgian refugee from Abkhazia, died from a heart attack while being held in a Moscow detention center on December 2, 2006 – a full six weeks after she was taken into custody.

Jabelia had lived legally in Moscow with her husband and three children for 13 years, after fleeing the war in Abkhazia in 1993. Russian authorities detained Jabelia on October 4 while she was at work at the city’s Domodedovo outdoor market.

Russian authorities held Jabelia in a special detention facility while her family appealed the decision, but she died before a Moscow court issued a ruling.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the authorities to round up and deport all ethnic Georgians living in Russia. The October 2006 order was connected to an ongoing political dispute between the two former Soviet republics.

Jabelia was one of two Georgians who died in custody during the spree of arrests targeting ethnic Georgians. Tengiz Togonidze, a 48-year-old Georgian citizen, died from complications connected to a severe asthma attack while waiting to be deported at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport on October 17, 2006.

Human Right Watch reported at the time that most Georgian detainees were held in appalling conditions and were subjected to excessive verbal threats and psychological abuse.

The expulsions resulted in the forced removal of at least 4,600 Georgians living in Russia, most of who were residents of Moscow and its environs. The authorities expelled 2,300 Georgians and at 2,000 more voluntarily departed Russia after receiving deportation notices.

By Tamar Svanidze
Edited by Nicholas Waller

Photo: Tabula.ge