Advocates of pardoned Sochi residents to appeal to ECtHR

The presidential pardon for Sochi residents Oksana Sevastidi, Annik Kesyan, and Marina Djandjgava, earlier sentenced on a charge of high treason for sending SMS-messages to Georgia, has not affected the decision concerning filing complains to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) about violation of their rights. This was reported by advocates.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 28, the Russian President signed decrees on pardoning Sochi residents Annik Kesyan and Marina Djandjgava, sentenced on a charge of high treason after in 2008 they sent SMS-message to Georgia about military vehicles transported to Abkhazia. Earlier, on March 7, Vladimir Putin also signed a decree to pardon Oksana Sevastidi, sentenced for sending a similar SMS-message.

The interests of all three pardoned women Oksana Sevastidi, Annik Kesyan, and Marina Djandjgava are represented by Ivan Pavlov and Yevgeny Smirnov, advocates from the "Team 29", and they prepare complaints to the ECtHR in the interests of those women. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Katya Arenina, the press secretary for the "Team 29".

If a sentenced person is pardoned, then he or she can appeal to the ECtHR in connection with the criminal prosecution, regardless of whether he or she pleaded guilty or not, Yevgeny Smirnov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. The advocate has explained that the fact of pardoning "is also possible without recognition of guilt."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.