ECtHR awards compensations to three activists from Southern Russia

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg has awarded compensations to two Rostov and one Volgograd residents detained at protest actions in 2021 and 2022.

Vadim Kobzev and Ilya Pognerybko, residents of Rostov-on-Don, were detained on April 21, 2021, at an action in support of the opposition politician, Alexei Navalny. They were arrested for 13 and 9 days, respectively, the court's website has reported.

In total, as a result of that action, 12 people were detained: eight were arrested; and law enforcers used force against two during detention, the "Caucasian Knot" has informed.

In the cases of Kobzev and Pognerybko, the ECtHR found violations of Articles 5 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – of the right to the person's freedom and security and of the right to a fair trial. Both were awarded compensation of EUR 5000 each.

Sergey Erilin, a Volgograd resident, was detained on March 6, 2022, at a pacifist rally against actions of Russian troops in Ukraine; and the court fined him by 10,000 roubles. The ECtHR awarded him EUR 4000 in compensation.

The applicants' interests were represented by the human rights project "OVD-Info"* and the "Memorial"**, which since 2019 had been helping residents of Russia in defend their rights at the ECtHR. "Russia owes our clients more than EUR 3 million," the "OVD-Info"* project has noted.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

**On December 29, 2021, by the decision of the Moscow City Court, the Russian legal entities of the "International Memorial" and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" were liquidated. Activists of the organizations have reported that both organizations will continue their work without forming legal entities.