MOSCOW, February 16 (RAPSI) – The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday that rights of eleven Russian detainees were violated by Russian courts as they had been deprived of access to justice.

Complaints were compiled and reviewed as one case.

Russian citizens in this case have all at one time or another been detained due to criminal cases launched against them. In their complaints they wrote that during their detention they were not given an opportunity to be present at the hearings of their cases.

Seven detainees filed lawsuits demanding compensations due to intolerable conditions they were put in during detention. Three other plaintiffs filed defamation lawsuits. Finally one of the detainees challenged the lawfulness of his prosecution in a Russian court.

Most of the lawsuits were dismissed without the plaintiffs present during the hearings.

Russian courts justified holding hearings without defendants by absence of laws in Russian legislation obligating them not to do so. ECHR, citing the Constitutional Court of Russia said that courts may utilize video broadcast or outdoor court sessions in order to defend the rights of detainees.

The court held that there was a violation of Article 6 (Right to a fair trial) in all cases and granted, in total, 18,560 euros to suffering parties.