MOSCOW, June 19 (RAPSI) – Freedom from cages in courtrooms will increase guarantees of defense for persons on trial, believes Russia’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkova.

According to her statement, doing away with this measure will give defendants a right to unrestricted contacts with attorneys during hearings.

Moreover, placing people in cages and aquariums bars people on trial from asserting their rights and assaults human dignity, the ombudsman stated.

On Tuesday, Chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev told journalists that the court supports an initiative to abolish restrictions in the form of placing suspects and defendants in cages in courtrooms.  This is a long-standing and steadfast position of the Supreme Court; justice may be executed without cages, he said during the Fourteenth Conference of Supreme Courts’ chairmen of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Sochi.

In February, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered to look into the matter of courtroom aquariums and cages ban.

In June, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe pointed to a positive trend in Russian legislation changes concerning this issue and called Russia to continue this work.