MOSCOW, August 4 (RAPSI) – The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held that Ali Feruz, a reporter for Novaya Gazeta newspaper, must not be deported from Russia to Uzbekistan during the hearing of his case in Strasbourg, the journalist’s attorney Kirill Koroteyev wrote on his Facebook page on Friday.

On August 3, a court in Moscow ruled that Ali Feruz (Khudoberdy Nurmatov) must be deported for violating emigration rules.

The journalist pleaded not guilty. Feruz said that his life would be menaced if he is deported.

Feruz, who applied for refugee status in Russia in 2014, was forced to leave Uzbekistan in 2008 because of refusal to cooperate with the country’s security agencies and tortures.

The Union of Journalists, Amnesty International and Russia's Presidential Council for Human Rights have already asked the authorities not to deport Feruz. The Human Rights Council claimed that the ordered deportation of Feruz to Uzbekistan contravenes Russia's Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman of the Russian President, said in turn that the authorities are aware of this problem. The situation is rather complicated, and several factors do not allow to put aside the occurred violations, he added.