23:34, 16 September 2003

European Court on Human Rights holds hearings of claim registered by group of Chechens who do not want to be extradited to Russia

13 Chechens were detained by Georgian frontier guards on the Georgian-Russian border in August of the last year. Five of them were extradited to Russia after the Georgian party had received documents that confirm the detainees' belonging to a terrorist activity. Two of the 13 trespassers turned out to be citizens of Georgia.

After the Chechens had applied to the European Court, Georgian judicial bodies decided to break off an extradition procedure of the other six Chechens. Now they are being kept in detention in Georgia. As it is indicated in the writ, they are threatened with life sentences and tortures in case of their extradition to Russia, and this contradicts the articles of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Source: Ekho Moskvy Radio