Olga Alexandrovna Sadovskaya (born October 25, 1980, Gorky, RSFSR, USSR) is a Russian lawyer, human rights activist, deputy head, and head of the International Legal Protection Department of the Crew Against Torture, a Russian human rights organization specializing in investigations of torture cases. Since 2004, she has been a co-author of alternative reports to the UN Committee Against Torture. Since 2018, she has been a member of the Board of the World Organization Against Torture. Since 2021, she has been a member of the Board of the Conference of International NGOs of the Council of Europe. Since 2022, she has been a member of the Council of Russian Human Rights Defenders.
Early life and education In 2003, Sagovskaya graduated from Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod with a specialization in International Public Law, defending the first thesis in Russia on the prohibition of torture and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights on this issue. In 2004, she completed her studies at the University of Amsterdam and earned an LLM (Master of Law) degree specializing in International Human Rights Protection.
Human Rights activities In 2002, Olga Sadovskaya became a volunteer at the Committee Against Torture (now the Crew Against Torture). Starting in 2003, she worked there as a lawyer, conducting analytical research on torture in Russia, handling cases in the European Court of Human Rights, and providing training on handling cases in international bodies.
Since 2004, Olga Sadovskaya has been a co-author of alternative reports to the UN Committee Against Torture on compliance with the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
In 2009, she gave a lecture on human rights protection issues at Lobachevsky State University. In 2009, Olga Sadovskaya participated in the international conference on human rights organized by the Human Rights Information and Documentation Centre (HURIDOCS) in Geneva, where she presented information on the situation regarding torture prevention in Russia.
From 2016 to 2019, she was a member of the Public Monitoring Commission of Nizhny Novgorod Region. In 2017, she took part in the international conference "Defending Dissent: Civil Society and Human Rights in the Global Crackdown," organized by the Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights at New York University School of Law.
On March 28, 2019, Olga Sadovskaya participated in the international conference "Crimes Against Human Dignity: Interaction of International and National Means of Protection", organized in Moscow by the Council of Europe, the Federal Chamber of Advocates of the Russian Federation, and the International Commission of Jurists. At this conference, Olga Sadovskaya spoke about the necessity of prohibiting torture in the national legislation.
From 2021 to 2022, as part of the Oak Human Rights Fellowship program, she taught two courses at Colby College in Waterville, USA: "Incarceration and Human Rights" and "The European Court as a Trendsetter for Global Human Rights Standards". In 2023, Olga Sadovskaya became the only co-author from Russia of the Second Edition of the Istanbul Protocol. As of October 2023, Olga Sadovskaya served as a trainer for the Human Rights Information and Documentation System HURIDOCS, conducting training seminars on the standards of the European Court of Human Rights for lawyers, law enforcement officials, and prosecutors.
Cases in the European Court of Human Rights From 2002 to 2015, Olga and her colleagues from the Crew Against Torture submitted 84 complaints to the European Court of Human Rights, resulting in convictions for torture for over a hundred police officers and compensation for victims totaling nearly 46 million rubles (700,000 US dollars). In addition, the organization was involved in the evacuation of torture victims from Chechnya. In 2018, two cases led by lawyers from the Torture Prevention Team were included in the collection "Precedents of the European Court of Human Rights: 20 Most Important Cases that Changed the Russian Legal System": the cases of Mikheev and Lyapin. Olga Sadovskaya personally represented the interests of over 300 torture victims at the European Court.
Lapunov v. Russia On March 15, 2017, Maxim Lapunov was detained by the police in Grozny and taken to a police station where he was subjected to torture. In May 2019, Lapunov filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), claiming that his case had been improperly investigated by Russian authorities. Olga Sadovskaya represented him before the ECHR. On September 12, 2023, the ECHR recognized that the applicant had been "detained and subjected to ill-treatment by state agents," reaching the level of torture, which was committed "solely because of his sexual orientation." The court awarded him compensation for moral damages amounting to 52,000 euros.
Tepsurkaev v. Russia On September 6, 2020, Salman Tepsurkaev was abducted and subjected to torture in Gelendzhik. Witnesses reported that the abductors showed identification documents of the police officers. In October 2021, the European Court of Human Rights, after reviewing the case, concluded that Russian authorities were responsible for violating Articles 3 and 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights - "prohibition of torture" and "right to liberty and security," recognizing Mr. Tepsurkaev as a victim of abduction and torture and awarding compensation to his wife, who was recognized as a victim. "The ECHR recognized that Salman became a victim of abduction and torture by state agents, namely Chechen law enforcement officers. He was unlawfully deprived of his freedom and subjected to cruel and degrading treatment, which was captured on video. The court found that the state failed to protect Salman." - Olga Sadovskaya.
Novoselov v. Russia On April 27, 2004, Alexander Novoselov, a resident of Nizhny Novgorod, was abducted by police officers and subjected to torture to give testimony in the case of Oleg Sorokin, the then-General Director of a group of companies "Stolitsa Nizhny." Novoselov filed a statement to the prosecutor's office requesting the opening of a criminal case. However, the investigative body eventually refused to initiate a criminal case against the police officers. The prosecutor's office concluded that the incident in the forest was an operational experiment conducted by officers of the Main Department of Internal Affairs for Nizhny Novgorod Region. In May 2005, Novoselov turned to the Committee Against Torture. On December 24, 2005, lawyers from the Committee Against Torture filed a complaint with the ECHR on behalf of Alexander Novoselov, and it was accepted for consideration in 2008. On November 28, 2013, the ECHR recognized that Novoselov had been tortured by state representatives, and the investigation conducted by the prosecutor's investigation was "superficial" and "formalistic." The European Court ordered Russia to pay Novoselov 27,500 euros.
Anoshin v. Russia In July 2002, Alexander Anoshin was taken to a medical sobering-up station in the Soviet District of Nizhny Novgorod, where he died on the same day due to asphyxiation. A criminal case was initiated because it was discovered that the man could not have received those injuries on his own. In February 2004, Elena Anoshina, the sister of the deceased, turned to the Committee Against Torture. As a result, the prosecutor's office initiated a case under Article 111, Part 4 of the Russian Criminal Code (infliction of grievous bodily harm resulting in the death of the victim due to negligence). The case was suspended 13 times. In 2005, human rights defenders filed a complaint with the ECHR, and suspects - police officers Alexey Maslov, Evgeny Ageev, and Andrey Antonov - appeared in the case. In 2008, a Russian court sentenced Maslov to 14 years in a strict regime colony for Article 105 of the Russian Criminal Code (murder) and Part 3 of Article 286 of the Russian Criminal Code (exceeding official powers with the use of violence). The case against Ageev and Antonov, who were accused under Part 2 of Article 293 of the Russian Criminal Code (negligence resulting in the death of the victim), was terminated due to the statute of limitations. On March 26, 2019, the ECHR awarded Elena Anoshina compensation in the amount of 36,600 euros, establishing that the Russian Federation violated Alexander Anoshin's right to life, and the investigation into his murder was ineffective.
Dmitrievskiy v. Russia In the mid-2000s, Dmitrievskiy led the organization "Society of Russian-Chechen Friendship," which monitored human rights violations in the North Caucasus. He was also the chief editor of the newspaper "Pravo-Zashchita," which was mainly distributed in his hometown of Nizhny Novgorod with a circulation of 5,000 copies. In 2004, the newspaper published appeals from Chechen separatist leaders Ahmed Zakayev and Aslan Maskhadov. In these texts, they accused the Russian leadership of instigating war and terrorism in Chechnya. In January 2005, the Nizhny Novgorod prosecutor's office initiated a criminal case against Dmitrievsky for calling for extremist activities (Article 280 of the Russian Criminal Code), finding calls for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order in these materials. The charges were later reclassified as calls for hatred or enmity (Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code). In February 2006, the Soviet District Court of Nizhny Novgorod sentenced Dmitrievsky to two years of conditional imprisonment with a four-year probation period. In the same year, Dmitrievsky appealed to the ECHR. The case was initiated after filing a complaint about violations of Article 10 of the European Convention on Freedom of Expression, as well as violations of Articles 6 and 13, which concern fair trial and effective legal remedies. On October 3, 2017, the ECHR ruled that Dmitrievsky's publications did not contain calls for the overthrow of the system or incitement to interethnic hatred and awarded him compensation of 13,600 euros. This was the first time the ECHR made a decision on a criminal case on extremism in Russia.
A. v. Russia This case was initiated by a complaint filed with the European Court of Human Rights against the Russian Federation in accordance with Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms by a Russian citizen, A., on April 14, 2009. The Section Chairman granted the applicant's request for anonymity. Initially, the applicant was represented by her mother, and later by Olga Sadovskaya. The applicant claimed that the Russian authorities violated her rights under the convention by carrying out her father's violent detention in her presence in 2008 when she was 9 years old. In 2019, the ECHR deemed this complaint admissible, ruling that there had been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention in both its material and procedural aspects, and awarded 25,000 euros as compensation for moral damage.
S.K. v. Russia This case was initiated by a complaint filed with the ECHR against the Russian Federation in 2012. The applicant, a 20-year-old future mother at the time of the events, was forced by her parents to have an abortion after her partner and the future father of the child were arrested on suspicion of a serious crime. The medical intervention was performed by a duty doctor at a state hospital. In 2022, the court ruled that the respondent state had not properly investigated the incident and had direct responsibility for what had happened, and awarded the applicant 19,500 euros in compensation.
V.K. v. Russia