Human rights court ruling on Luzenko ups pressure against political repression in Ukraine

The European Court of Human Rights today ruled that the arrest and imprisonment of former Ukrainian home affairs minister Juri Luzenko was arbitrary and politically-motivated. The Greens welcomed the ruling and called for the immediate release of Luzenko and other opposition politicians under politically-motivated detention.

Commenting on the ruling, Green MEP and foreign affairs spokesperson Werner Schulz said:

“Today's ruling sends an important signal on the need to uphold democracy and the rule of law in Ukraine. Clearly the ruling should be immediately acted on but it also has wider implications as regards the politicisation of the judiciary in Ukraine. President Yanukovych and the Ukrainian government must now release the raft of opposition politicians that have been detained on politically-motivated grounds.

The court's ruling is a clear indictment of the Ukrainian government's practice of abusing the judicial process to neutralise political opponents. We call on the government to release all political prisoners now and rehabilitate them in good time, so they can play an active part in October's elections. The European Court of Human Rights should also move as swiftly as possible to investigate the cases of other political prisoners, like Yulia Tymoshenko, Heorhiy Filipchuk or Valeriy Ivashenko. The international community must remain vigilant in continuing to pressure the Ukrainian government to this end."