Artist News Legal

Human rights court orders Russia to compensate Pussy Riot over 2012 jailing

By | Published on Thursday 19 July 2018

Pussy Riot

The European Court Of Human Rights has ordered Russia to compensate the members of Pussy Riot who were jailed after they performed a protest song in a Moscow church back in 2012.

Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich all spent time in prison after being convicted for their involvement in the protest. The controversial legal case and the backlash against the convictions assured the wider Pussy Riot group and the political causes they promote a global profile.

Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova filed a complaint with the European Court Of Human Rights in 2014. And on Tuesday it ruled that Russia had violated multiple articles of the European Convention On Human Rights in its arrest, conviction and jailing of the three Pussy Riot members.

Among other things, the court criticised the “overcrowded conditions” suffered by the accused when they were transported to and from court, the “humiliation” of the defendants’ exposure in a glass dock during the trial, and various free speech violations. The court has ordered Russia to collectively pay the three Pussy Riot members just under 50,000 euros in damages.

The human rights court – part of the Council Of Europe and nothing to do with the European Union – has jurisdiction in Russia because the country is a signatory of the human rights convention.

The Russian government could appeal the ruling, though it has ultimately complied with the court’s judgements in the past. However, there have been reports of the Russian government considering withdrawing form the human rights convention and therefore no long cooperating with the European court.

The ECHR ruling came as four current members of Pussy Riot were jailed for fifteen days in relation to a protest at the recent World Cup in Russia.



READ MORE ABOUT: