Ukraine Starts Legal Case against Russia in ECHR

Ukraine starts a new legal case against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights concerning the violation of the rights of detained Ukrainian sailors. 

Ivan Lishchyna, the Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights, wrote about this on his Facebook page. 

The Government of Ukraine has fulfilled all of the Court’s instructions and lodged on January 7, 2019, the final application on the case No. 55855/18 (concerning the violation of the rights of the captive Ukrainian sailors), he noted. 

Mr. Lishchyna adds that the Government requested the recognition of the fact that the RF had violated the rights of 24 sailors during the illegal attack on Ukrainian ships, the fact of wounding and capturing of sailors in the Kerch Strait on November 25, 2018, of their illegal detention in the penitentiary facilities in the RF and their bringing to criminal liability. The Government of Ukraine considers that the Art. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 38 of the Convention were violated. 

According to Ukrinform, the border guard ships of the Russian Federation committed aggressive actions against Ukrainian ships on November 25 as they carried out their scheduled passage from the Odesa port to the Mariupol port via the Kerch Strait. Russian special forces soldiers fired on and captured three Ukrainian ships and 24 sailors. 

In the end of December, three wounded sailors were transferred to the pre-trial detention center “Matrosskaia Tishina,” while the others (21 sailors) are detained in the pre-trial detention center “Lefortovo.”