Human rights judges have awarded €15,000 to Yuriy Lutsenko, Ukraine’s former Interior Minister and opposition party leader, after agreeing that he was arbitrarily arrested and detained.
In today’s Chamber judgment in the case of Lutsenko v. Ukraine (application no. 6492/11), which is not final, the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been:
two violations of Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights on account of Mr Lutsenko’s arrest and ensuing detention;
a violation of Article 5 § 2 (right to be informed of the reasons for one’s arrest);
two violations of Article 5 § 3 (right to be brought promptly before a judge)on account of both his arrest and his pre-trial detention;
a violation of Article 5 § 4 (right to challenge the lawfulness of one’s detention); and
a violation of Article 18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights) in conjunction with Article 5.
The case concerned the complaint by a well-known opposition politician that his arrest and the decision on his detention were arbitrary and unlawful, and that he was not informed about the reasons for his arrest.
The Court held in particular: that Lutsenko’s arrest had been arbitrary; that no valid reasons had been given for his detention; that he had not been duly informed of the reasons for his detention; and, that the lawfulness of his arrest and detention had not been properly reviewed.
The Court also found that, given that the prosecutors had referred to Lutsenko’s communication with the media as one of the reasons for his arrest, his right to liberty had been restricted for other reasons than those permissible under Article 5.
Just satisfaction (Article 41)
The Court held that Ukraine was to pay Mr Lutsenko 15,000 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary damage.
