Residents of South Ossetia re-submit complaints to ECtHR

As reported by the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of South Ossetia, the republic has repeatedly submitted applications of its residents affected by the war in August 2008 to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

"We have sent 3000 applications of suffered citizens to the Strasbourg Court; half of them had been earlier rejected. The Office of the ECtHR explained it by the fact that they had failed to contact the defence party," said Eldar Kokoev, First Deputy Prosecutor General.

The Ministry of Justice of Georgia had reported earlier that the ECtHR's refusal to initiate proceedings filed against Georgia by residents of South Ossetia and Russia was caused by the fact that the advocates representing the applicants failed to present answers to the queries of the ECtHR.

According to Mr Kokoev, the applicants continue to demand recognition of Georgia to be guilty of aggression against South Ossetia; while the officials of the Russian GPO represent in Strasbourg the interests of the Russian citizens living in South Ossetia.

The earlier applicants to the ECtHR are now summoned to the GPO; they repeatedly describe what happened to them, their families and property, as well as what events they witnessed on August 7-9, 2008.

"We just help our colleagues from Russia. Also, the Russian party provides legal protection of our citizens," said Kokoev.

Along with the progress in this matter, the GPO of South Ossetia will exchange information and documents with their Russian counterpart.