Source: HRO.org

Head of the Human Rights Council Mikhail Fedotov is convinced legislation that permits defendants to be held in ‘cages’ and ‘glass docks’ during judicial proceedings needs to be amended. He considers such measures should be used only as a matter of last resort, Pravo.ru reports.

Fedotov is of the view that, for those accused of minor crimes, all that should be required is for them to be placed behind some sort of barrier or stand. 

‘No one should ever be kept in a cage, if it is not stipulated by law or deemed necessary within a democratic society and by the rule of law,’ the head of the Human Rights Council stressed.

Several years ago, the European Court of Human Rights recognized as unlawful the practice of holding defendants in cages during court proceedings. Recently, the Court ruled that compensation totalling more than €17,000 should be paid to three Russian citizens subjected to the practice. The applicants to the ECtHR said they considered the practice humiliating and an infringement of their civil rights.

Nathalie Wilson