Granting Status of Political Prisoner Became Exclusive Prerogative of the Strasbourg Court

Granting the status of a political prisoner to a person became an exclusive prerogative of the European Court of Human Rights. Foreign media reported about it on October 3.

Besides that, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passed resolution on reassessment the political imprisonment as concept. In accordance to the new resolution, a person deprived of his or her personal liberty is to be regarded as a ‘political prisoner’.

a. if the detention has been imposed in violation of one of the fundamental guarantees set out in the European Convention on Human Rights and its Protocols (ECHR), in particular freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of expression and information, freedom of assembly and association;

b. if the detention has been imposed for purely political reasons without connection to any offence;

c. if, for political motives, the length of the detention or its conditions are clearly out of proportion to the offence the person has been found guilty of or is suspected of;

d. if, for political motives, he or she is detained in a discriminatory manner as compared to other persons; or,

e. if the detention is the result of proceedings which were clearly unfair and this appears to be connected with political motives of the authorities.”

The Assembly added that those deprived of their personal liberty for terrorist crimes shall not be considered political prisoners if they have been prosecuted and sentenced for such crimes according to national legislation and the European Convention on Human Rights.

 
Interpresnews