The applicants, Yuriy Fedorchenko and Zoya Lozenko, are Ukrainian nationals who were born in 1951 and 1954 and live in Novi Sanzghary and Zolotnosha (Ukraine) respectively. They allege that, on 28 October 2001, a police major threatened and hit Mr Fedorchenko and then set his house on fire. Relying on Article 2 (right to life), the applicants complain that five of their relatives died in the fire and that the State authorities failed to conduct a thorough and effective investigation into the circumstances of their death and of the police major’s involvement in the arson attack. They further rely on Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination), alleging that the crime had racist motives.
(from the official press-release prepared by the Registry Office of the European Court of Human Rights)