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ECHR registers journalist’s complaint against Russia’s Telegram ban, says lawyer

Russian journalist filed a complaint against Telegram ban in April

MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/ The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has registered a complaint against Russia’s ban of the Telegram messaging service filed by Russian journalist Alexander Plyushchev, Telegram’s lawyer Pavel Chikov said on Thursday.

"The ECHR has registered journalist Alexander Plyshchev’s complaint against the Telegram ban. We are past the first filter," he wrote on Telegram.

In April, Plyushchev filed a complaint against Russia’s Telegram ban, pointing to the violation of his right to respect for private and family life enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. Journalist Oleg Kashin filed a complaint together with Plyushchev. According to the two journalists, they are being forced to give up using Telegram while it is an important means of expressing views on various issues.

Telegram issue

In December 2017, Telegram’s top managers filed a lawsuit with Russia’s Supreme Court asking that an order of the Federal Security Service, which demanded decryption keys for users’ messages, be declared void. On March 20, the Supreme Court turned the request down.

On April 13, 2018, Moscow’s Tagansky District Court ruled to block access to Telegram in Russia over its failure to implement the FSB’s order.

On April 16, the Russian media watchdog received the court’s ruling on restricting access to Telegram. On the same day, mobile operators began to take steps to block Telegram in compliance with the court’s decision.

On May 11, Telegram’s lawyers filed an appeal against the ban with the Moscow City Court, which was rejected on June 14.

In June, the company filed an appeal against the ban with the ECHR.