MOSCOW, November 13 (RAPSI) – A complaint over arrest of French musician Didier Marouani and his lawyer Igor Trunov during their meeting with Russian pop star Filipp Kirkorov in 2016 has been lodged with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Trunov has told RAPSI.

In the application Trunov accuses police officers of unlawful operational-investigative activities, illegal arrest of the French musician, improper proceedings in an application seeking to open criminal cases against Kirkorov and failure to consider a statement against police officers.

The lawyer insists on the violation of Article 6 (Right to a fair trial), Article 13 (Lack of effective remedy) and Article 5 (Right to liberty and personal security) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In November 2016, Marouani and Trunov were arrested by police on suspicion of extorting € 1 million from Kirkorov. Trunov has written a statement for the police demanding to open a criminal case against Kirkorov over false denunciation, and then against police officers.  A year on, the Presnensky District Court of Moscow ordered the Investigative Committee to consider their demand to open a criminal case against police officers over illegal, according to the musician and his lawyer, arrest.

According to lawyer Lyudmila Aivar, the wife of Trunov, the French musician and her husband were arrested in a bank where they were to conclude an amicable agreement with Kirkorov in a copyright dispute. She said that Kirkorov and his lawyer offered € 1 million to Marouani as part of the settlement.

Kirkorov reportedly said that there was no settlement out of court and Marouani extorted money from him.

Marouani, who first came to a concert tour in the Soviet Union in 1983, accused Kirkorov of plagiarism. He claimed that the Russian singer’s song called "Cruel Love" contains melody he composed earlier. The French star filed lawsuits with Russian courts over copyright infringement, but they were dismissed.