• European Court of Human Rights adopted a ruling in favour of a former “Red Partisan” Vasilijs Kononovs in his case against Latvia
• Riga Administrative District Court refused claim by Aleksandrs Kazakovs against the Ministry of Interior for his inclusion into the “black-list”

Yesterday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) adopted a ruling in favour of a former “Red Partisan” Vasilijs Kononovs in his case against Latvia and obliged Latvia to pay to Mr. Kononovs EUR 30,000 as moral compensation. As reported, in 2004, the Supreme Court of Latvia has found guilty Vasilijs Kononovs of committing war crimes in 1944 and sentenced him to 1 year and 8 months imprisonment. 84-years-old Vasilijs Kononovs complained that he was sentenced for offences which were not unlawful during the time they were made. Mr. Kononovs argued that the characterisation of his acts by the Latvian courts was based on an erroneous assumption that Latvia was at the time occupied by the USSR and that he was a representative of the occupation forces. He also complained about the length and unfairness of his trial and that his detention pending trial harmed his state of health. Chas, Vesti Segodnya, Telegraf, Diena, Latvijas Avize, NRA

The Riga Administrative District Court has refused claim by an activist of the Headquarters for the Defence of Russian Language Schools Aleksandrs Kazakovs against the Ministry of Interior for his inclusion into the list of persons whose entrance to Latvia is denied. Kazakovs claimed for moral compensation in amount of LVL 20,000 (EUR 28,457) from the Ministry for inclusion into the “black-list”. Latvijas Avize, Vesti Segodnya