11 March 2009, 21:00
European Court received almost 400 suits against Russia from Georgian citizens
The European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) has registered 391 applications filed by citizens of Georgia who suffered in the Russian-Georgian conflict in August 2008, as reported by the Georgian human rights organization named "42nd Article of the Constitution".
"From September 2008 and till today, the advocates of the organization have met thousands of victims from the villages of the South-Ossetian conflict zone and the Gori District. They assert that they became victims of especial cruelty exerted by Russia," said the members of the human rights organization, which represents the victims' interests in Strasbourg.
The cases were presented to the European Court in February 2009 by human rights activists of the organization "42nd Article of the Constitution" with support of the NGO "Open Society - Georgia". According to human rights activists, other NGOs will also represent the victims in the European Court.
According to the activist, the claims submitted to the European Court "refer to the death of people as a result of raids of Russian aviation, illegal detentions, property destruction, persecutions and nationality-motivated discrimination."
The "Georgia Online" writes that among the cases to be considered by the European Court, there is a case about "the journalists lost and injured by Russian aggression."
