Russia violated the right to free expression of renowned Russian lawyer Genri Reznik, over comments he made in December 2003 regarding the treatment of one of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s defence lawyers, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled. As a result, the ECtHR has ordered Russia to pay Reznik 4000 Euros in damages.

The incident that triggered the case occurred when Olga Artyukhova, a member of Khodorkovsky’s defence team at the time, visited her client in the pre-trial detention centre where he was being held following his arrest on trumped-up charges in October 2003. Two guards searched Artyukhova and seized from her a typed document and a handwritten note. Investigators claimed that the note contained instructions for the intimidation of witnesses and the Ministry of Justice attempted to have Artyukhova disbarred.

Reznik was subsequently convicted of defamation over comments he made on the Russian state television station, NTV, criticising the behaviour of the detention centre guards. NTV had invited him to take part in a debate with a Justice Ministry official. When the host asked Reznik about the incident, Reznik said: “There were no grounds for carrying out a search which, by the way, was performed by men who rummaged about the body of the woman lawyer. Evidence obtained by criminal or unlawful means has no legal value. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in Ms Artyukhova’s records that could warrant her disbarment.”

The Moscow City Bar refused to disbar Artyukhova, citing the illegality of the search and seizure process. But the detention centre, and the two guards, filed defamation claims against Reznik and NTV, arguing that they had not “rummaged around the body of the woman lawyer”, but searched her bag. A court found in favour of Reznik and NTV, ruling that Reznik’s comments were a statement of opinion rather than fact, and that he had not used any names.

The detention centre and the guards appealed the decision, however, and in August 2004, the Moscow City Court overturned the lower court’s decision, granting the defamation claims and forcing Reznik to pay damages.

Reznik lodged his complaint to the ECtHR in February 2005. More than eight years later, the Court has ruled that “the domestic court failed to recognise that the present case involved a conflict between the right to freedom of expression and the protection of the reputation.” The ECtHR further found that Reznik had not named the guards or even the detention centre in his comments, and had not, therefore, directly threatened their reputations. The judgment also noted that Reznik had “a sufficient factual basis” for his statement that the inspection of Khodorkovsky’s lawyer “had been devoid of legal grounds.”

Hundreds of cases of Russian human rights violations are brought before the ECtHR each year. Applications for justice have been subject to lengthy delays. Khodorkovsky, for instance, has submitted a series of applications concerning violations committed by the Russian authorities in proceedings against him. His first application was lodged in February 2004, with the ECtHR eventually ruling, in May 2011, that his fundamental human rights were violated during his arrest and detention between 2003 and 2005. He has three more applications pending at the ECtHR.

The full ECtHR judgment in the case of Reznik v. Russia can be read here.