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This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.
Written declaration No. 537 | Doc. 13114 | 25 January 2013
Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev and the European Court of Human Rights
Considering that:
- Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, Amnesty International prisoners of conscience, have been imprisoned in Russia since 2003 and convicted in two trials widely criticised as politically motivated and legally flawed;
- their case was the basis of Resolution 1418 (2005);
- Resolution 1685 (2009), on allegations of politically motivated abuses of criminal justice, cited their cases;
- Resolution 1896 (2012) stated that 'the system [in Russia] pressures judges to show loyalty to state bodies or certain officials and to take into account political considerations...the most notorious examples are the cases involving Yukos and Mr Mikhail Khodorkovsky;'
- of the four applications each has lodged to the ECtHR only one has come to judgment, which was favourable to the applicants;
- their applications alleging violations during the first trial, tabled in 2006 and 2005, respectively, remain unresolved despite Mr Lebedev having been granted priority status.
The undersigned, members of the Parliamentary Assembly:
- express their hope and confidence that the ECtHR will deliver judgment without further delay on the cases 11082/06, 13772/05 and all other outstanding applications lodged by Mr Khodorkovsky and Mr Lebedev.