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European court tells Estonia to pay damages to defenders of Soviet-era monument

Estonia has the right to appeal the European Court’s ruling

PARIS, March 28 (Itar-Tass) – European Court for Human Rights has entertained a lawsuit filed on the part of members of the Nochnoi Dozor /Nighttime Vigil/ public association, which organized protests in the Estonian capital Tallinn in the spring of 2007 against the decision of the Baltic country’s authorities to dismantle, refashion and relocate a post-World War II monument to Soviet soldiers.

A communiqu· the court issued in Strasbourg Thursday says the Estonian government is expected to pay out a compensation totaling 50,000 euro to participants in the protests.

European Court judges admitted that the Estonian law enforcement agencies encroached on Article 3 of the European Convention for Human Rights, which prohibits torture and inhumane/humiliating treatment, upon detaining the protesters against the pull-down of the ‘Bronze Soldier’.

The lawsuit was filed by three nationals of Estonia, two nationals of Russia and two ‘permanent alien residents’ of Estonia. Public activist Alexander Korobov, who was one of the founders of Nochnoi Dozor, was among the claimants.

Estonia has the right to appeal the European Court’s ruling.

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