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European court rules Russia should pay €7,000 to Bolotnaya case defendants

The claim said the pre-trial detention wasn't basedon "relevant and sufficient reasons"
Leonid Kovyazin in Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky District Court ITAR-TASS/Stanislav Krasilnikov
Leonid Kovyazin in Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky District Court
© ITAR-TASS/Stanislav Krasilnikov

MOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/. The European Court of Human Rights upheld on Thursday a claim by three defendants in a criminal case over opposition-led riots on Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square and ordered Russia to pay a total of €7,000 to Leonid Kovyazin, Artyom Savyolov and Ilya Gushchin.

The Strasbourg-based court said in a document published on its website that Savyolov is to be paid €3,000 in compensation while Kovyazin and Gushchin are each to receive €2,000.

Applicants told the court their arrest and pre-trial detention "was not based on relevant and sufficient reasons" and that one of the three had his appeals against detention "examined with unacceptable delays".

The court's verdict said it was "undeniable that the applicants [had] suffered distress, frustration and anxiety".

A trial on mass riots on Bolotnaya Square in central Moscow was launched after May 2012 disturbances when an opposition rally sanctioned by municipal authorities turned into clashes with police. More than 400 people were detained for violations.

Proceedings were launched against some 30 defendants under Russia's Criminal Code Article 212 on mass riots and Article 318 on use of violence against representatives of authorities.

Charges against 11 were dropped in a presidential amnesty timed to the 20th anniversary of the Russian Constitution in December 2013.