PARIS, March 13. /TASS/. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has held the Ukrainian authorities accountable for failing to take action to prevent violence and protect lives during the events in Odessa on May 2, 2014, when extremists set fire to the House of Trade Unions.
"In the case the European Court of Human Rights Court held, unanimously, that there had been: violations of Article 2 (right to life/investigation) of the European Convention on Human Rights, on account of the relevant authorities’ failure to do everything that could reasonably be expected of them to prevent the violence in Odesa on 2 May 2014, to stop that violence after its outbreak, to ensure timely rescue measures for people trapped in the fire," reads a press release published on the court's website.
Also, it is said that the Kiev authorities did not conduct a proper investigation of the events.
Under the ECHR's ruling, Ukraine must pay the applicants "varying amounts" to compensate for the damage suffered as a result of the actions of the authorities, as well as in connection with court costs. Also, the court ruled that there had been violation of the right to respect for private and family life in relation to one of the applicants due to the fact that the authorities delayed handing over to her for burial the body of her father, who died during the events in Odessa.
According to the ECHR's decision, Ukraine must pay the applicants "varying amounts" to compensate for the damage suffered as a result of the actions of the authorities, as well as in connection with legal costs. Also, the court ruled that there had been a violation of the right to respect for private and family life of one of the applicants as the authorities delayed handing over to her for burial the body of her father, who died during the events in Odessa.
On May 2, 2014, in Odessa, the extremists of the Right Sector (an organization banned in Russia) and the so-called Maidan self-defense attacked a tent city on the Kulikovo Field, where Odessa residents were collecting signatures for holding a referendum on federalization of Ukraine and giving the Russian language a state status. Federalization supporters took refuge in the House of Trade Unions, but the radicals surrounded the building and set it on fire. According to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, 48 people were killed and over 240 injured.
The authorities said that only "anti-Maidan" supporters were the instigators. However, the investigation, which lasted for several years, was unable to prove their guilt in court. As a result, all those who were initially detained were acquitted in this case.