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European Court of Human Rights admitted illegal liquidation of the Russian refugee assistance organization “Assistance” in 2008. The court ordered the Russian authorities to pay the three applicants Valery Madyarov, Lidiya Turdyeva and Nadezhda Lipans EUR 10,000 in compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
The Strasbourg court concluded that the Russian authorities had violated articles on the right to freedom of association and assembly and on the right to an effective remedy (Articles 11 and 13 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms).
According to the document, in 2007, after an unsuccessful attempt to find “Assistance” at the registration address, the department of the Ministry of Justice for the Vladimir region filed a lawsuit to dissolve the organization, claiming that it had stopped working. The Leninsky District Court satisfied the claim, but Sodeystvie appealed against this decision.
On February 4, 2008, the Vladimir Regional Court decided to close Sodeystvie, citing the fact that the organization had not submitted annual reports for the past nine years, did not notify the authorities about the re-election of the chairman, and did not announce the change of address. Representatives of “Sodeystvo” did not deny these violations, but insisted that their elimination is possible without the liquidation of the organization. In addition, they viewed the authorities’ decision as an attempt to put pressure on civil society.
On April 22, 2008, the RF Supreme Court upheld the decision to liquidate Sodeystvo. On October 20 of the same year, representatives of the liquidated organization filed a complaint with the ECHR.
The European Court “cannot agree with the Russian government that the dissolution was“ necessary in a democratic society ”or that it was justified by the seriousness of the violations committed by the applicant organization”. “The said violations were purely formal and had nothing to do with the essence of the applicant organization’s activities. It has not been proven that the latter acted in bad faith or deliberately concealed information, ” quotes ECHR decision Memorial Human Rights Center.
The court also noted that the Ministry of Justice did not have sufficient grounds to dissolve the organization, which had been operating for more than 10 years.
“Assistance” was founded in Vladimir in 1997. The organization provided legal assistance to refugees and migrants in the region and represented their interests in local courts.
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