The European Court communicated the complaint of human rights activist Tatyana Kotlyar

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) communicated the complaint of human rights activist Tatyana Kotlyar to the Russian authorities. Mediazona reports this with reference to a publication on the official website of the court. Kotlyar was found guilty in the case of illegal migration due to the registration in the apartment of participants in the State Program for Assistance to the Voluntary Resettlement of Compatriots. In his complaint, Kotlyar alleges a violation of Articles 7 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights: “Punishment solely in accordance with the law” and the right to “Freedom of expression”, respectively.

The ECtHR posed two questions to the Russian authorities: 1) was the violation committed when the rule of law criminalizing it, as required by Article 7 of the Convention, had already entered into force? 2) can we talk about any interference with the freedom of expression guaranteed by the first paragraph of Article 10 of the Convention?

The well-known human rights activist, who became a laureate of the Moscow Helsinki Group “for activities in protecting social rights and interests of local communities,” registered 187 people in her apartment, the vast majority of whom were refugees from the Lugansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine. This was done free of charge and only to help people obtain citizenship of the Russian Federation - in order to apply for citizenship, registration at the place of residence is required. The authorities of the Kaluga region do not solve this issue in any way, and people from whom Ukrainians rent housing most often refuse to register them with them. 100 migrants whom Kotlyar helped have already been able to obtain citizenship under the State Program for the Resettlement of Compatriots from Abroad.

Kotlyar became a defendant in a criminal case under Articles 322.2 and 322.3 of the Criminal Code (fictitious registration of a citizen of the Russian Federation at the place of stay or at the place of residence in a residential premises and fictitious registration of a foreign citizen or stateless person at the place of residence in a residential premises) in 2014. In November 2015, she was found guilty on charges of fictitious registration and fictitious registration of 12 foreigners, and was sentenced to a fine of 150 thousand rubles.