"The Russian state's treatment of foreign agents is an unprecedented example of discrimination." The ECHR upheld the complaints of 107 foreign agents and ordered Russia to pay them between 5 and 10 euros.
Among the 107 applicants whose complaints were consolidated by the European Court of Human Rights are journalists Yuri Dud, Ekaterina Shulman, TV channel employees "Rain", online publications "Caucasian Knot", Mediazona, Cold, Important Stories, Dossier и "Project".
Politicians and human rights activists are also on this list, including a media lawyer. Galina Arapova, which heads "Center for the Protection of Mass Media Rights".
“This is the first case in the world where individuals who are foreign agents have reached an international body,” Arapova explained to NeMoskva. — Previously, the ECHR had only considered complaints from NGOs that Russia had designated as foreign agents. This was in June 2022, and the case involved more than 70 complaints.
According to the media lawyer, at that time the ECHR found a violation of only one article of the European Convention on Human Rights – Article 11, which guarantees freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
Although we already raised the issue of a violation of Article 10 – the right to freedom of expression – Galina Arapova clarified. — However, the ECHR tends to believe that it is sufficient for a decision to find a violation of at least one article of the Convention. Thus, it effectively acknowledges the state's violation of its international obligations and sees no need to string the remaining beads onto a string.
However, this time the ECHR found a violation of three articles at once, which guarantee the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, expression, and privacy.
It's important that the Supreme Court didn't settle the legal matter by simply confirming the Justice Ministry's position. It's important that the legal assessment was made at the international level, by an independent court. says Arapova. — Because the way the Russian state treats foreign agents is an unprecedented example of discrimination against people and civil society organizations.
The practice developed by the ECHR is used in other international courts, including the UN Human Rights Committee, whose decisions Russia is still obligated to comply with.