Circumstances surrounding the arrest and prosecution of leading Yukos executives

Doc. 10582

17 June 2005

Circumstances surrounding the arrest and prosecution of leading Yukos executives

Recommendation 1692 (2005)

Reply from the Committee of Ministers

adopted at the 930^th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (15 June 2005)

1. The Committee of Ministers has carefully examined Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1692 (2005) on the circumstances surrounding the arrest and prosecution of leading Yukos executives, which it has forwarded to the governments of the member states, including the Russian Federation.

2. Like the Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of Ministers considers that Council of Europe member states must respect the independence and transparency of the legal and judicial institutions. It recalls that the Council of Europe has carried out extensive assistance activities in the legal field under several programmes in 2001-2004 in the Russian Federation, aiming to strengthen the rule of law, to promote penitentiary reform and crime prevention as well as to promote human rights protection through training of legal professions.

3. In 2005-2006, the Council of Europe will pursue this co-operation. Among the specific objectives to be pursued are:

- the elaboration and evaluation of legislation in the main areas of the institutional and judicial reform in accordance with European standards;

- to increase the efficient functioning of the judicial system and the independence of the judiciary (judges, prosecutors, lawyers, notaries, bailiffs);

- to enhance crime prevention capacity and the functioning of the penitentiary;

- to devise and implement short and long term training strategies for judges, prosecutors, the legal professions, law enforcement officers and prison officials, on legal reforms and human rights standards.

4. As to the evaluation of the progress achieved, through the past and current programmes, the Joint Co-operation Programmes with the European Union have been presented within the Steering Committee held in Moscow on 22-23 November 2004, during which participants expressed their appreciation for the outcome of the co-operation. The implementation of these programmes is also currently being assessed by the European Commission evaluators.

5. The Committee of Ministers has been informed by the authorities of the Russian Federation that MM. Pichugin, Khodorskovsky and Lebedev are held in a pre-trial detention facility administered by the Ministry of Justice, not by the Federal Security Service (FSB).

6. The Committee of Ministers attaches the greatest importance to the implementation by member states of the fundamental rights and freedoms contained in the European Convention on Human Rights, which is supervised by the European Court of Human Rights. It notes that a judgment was recently delivered by a domestic court of first instance in the cases of MM. Pichugin, Khodorskovsky and Lebedev. It also notes that cases have been brought before the European Court of Human Rights by these three Yukos executives mentioned in the Assembly’s recommendation and that a decision on their admissibility is awaited. In these circumstances, it would not be proper for the Committee of Ministers to pronounce itself on the merits of the case.

7. Finally, the Committee of Ministers has received information concerning the health care provided to Mr Lebedev. It expects the Russian Federation to provide Mr Lebedev with the care that his condition requires.