MOSCOW, July 03. /ITAR-TASS/. The State Duma (lower house of the Russian parliament) said the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling on the deportation of Georgians from Russia in 2006 was politically motivated.

“The Georgian lawsuit against Russia is politically motivated and, in all likelihood and under certain instructions from the West, aimed at defaming Russia’s image in the world,” Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs and Ties with Compatriots Leonid Slutsky said on Thursday, July 3.

He noted that the way the question was stated was “provocative”. As the Russian Justice Ministry said, and this was stated in the Strasbourg court, “the Russian authorities never planned or undertook any discriminatory actions against Georgians on the grounds of citizenship or ethnic background,” the deputy said.

“At the time specified in Georgia’s lawsuit against Russia, which was accepted by the ECHR, there was no dramatic increase in the number of Georgians deported from Russia. As the state of Russia, we have a sovereign right to carry out our own effective migration policy,” Slutsky said.

He expressed hope that after the talks “the sides will reach an understanding so that this file does not return to the ECHR and does not serve as an additional factor of disagreement between our countries”.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia had violated several provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights when deporting Georgians in 2006, but it did not name the sum of compensation to be paid. The sides will have 12 months to demand or contest the compensation and inform the court of a possible amicable settlement.