ECHR takes sides with Karpyuk, other UNA-UNSO members

The ECHR ruled that the national courts had not summoned witnesses and the right to peaceful assemblies had been violated.

According to the Kharkiv Human Rights Group website, October 6, the European Court of Human Rights delivered a judgment in the case “Karpyuk and Others vs. Ukraine” on the complaint of seven citizens of Ukraine.

March 9, 2001, leaders and members of the UNA-UNSO Party including Andriy Shkil, Mykola Karpyuk, Mykola Liakhovych, Hryhoriy Liakhovych and others were detained during clashes between law enforcers and the participants of the action “Ukraine without Kuchma.” More than 20 activists were accused of inflicting bodily harm to police officers, as well as causing serious material damage to the state. The court sentenced the activists to imprisonment for a term of two to seven years.

“Some of the injured in 2004, filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights, referring to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment). They claimed that they had been subjected to degrading treatment during the pre-trial investigation, and numerous complaints on tat issue had been neglected,” reads the statement.

The activists also complained about violation of the right to fair trial, the right to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

The Court noted that the domestic courts had not summoned and questioned witnesses, however the defendants insisted on their questioning claiming that would have an impact on the judgment. The ECHR also found violation of the right to peaceful assembly in respect of the three activists and obliged Ukraine to pay EUR 11,000 in compensation for moral damages to three members of the “UNA-UNSO” – Mykola Karpyuk, Mykola Lyakhovych and Ihor Mazur.

As a reminder, according to the “Right Sector”, their member Mykola Karpyuk was abducted by the Russian Security Service officers in March 2014 and taken to Russia. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation accused him of killing the Russian military in Chechnya during the armed conflict in 1994-1995. He faces at least 15 years in prison. Karpyuk claims that he was tortured by Russian investigators to beat out confessions of him and threatened to kidnap his wife and son from Ukraine.