On 11 October 2016 the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Kasparov v Russia ruled that the rights of Garry Kasparov, who was prevented from taking part in an opposition rally in Samara in 2007, had been violated. As RAPSI reported, Kasparov had filed the application in 2007 on the grounds that he had been arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport along with other persons who planned to travel to Samara to participate in the Dissenters' March. Law enforcement authorities alleged that Kasparov had been arrested 'on suspicion of breaching procedure for confirming flight tickets.' RAPSI writes: 'According to the application, a police officer seized Kasparov’s passport and ticket when he presented the documents for identity check. Then he was taken to a police office and questioned for 5 hours. Kasparov has filed a complaint against the actions of police with the Golovinsky District Court of Moscow. However, he was denied initiation of a criminal case; and his lawsuit was dismissed. The Russian Government claimed that the Department of the Interior’s Sheremetyevo airport branch received information on forged tickets being sold for the 18 May Moscow-Samara flight. According to the defendant, police seized Kasparov’s ticket for the flight but there was no record of his passport also being seized. Thus, there were no violations by police officers because they acted on current-awareness information about alleged fraud and the Interior Ministry’s data.'
In its ruling, the European Court of Human Rights found that there had been a violation of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention (Right to liberty and security of person) and a violation of Article 11 of the Convention (freedom of assembly and association).
Sources: 'Rights of Russian opposition politician Kasparov violated – ECHR,' RAPSI, 11 October 2016 |