Ousted President Yanukovych Takes Ukraine to European Human Rights Court

Yanukovych was ousted from power and had to flee Ukraine in a February 2014 coup followed by a snap election. Yanukovych has repeatedly said that Ukrainian courts had failed to investigate several attempts on his life.

KIEV (Sputnik) — Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the legal firm acting on his behalf said Monday.

"President Yanukovych has brought this action now because it is clear that the Ukrainian authorities are determined to bring prosecutions against him," his UK lawyer Joe Hage of Joseph Hage Aaronson LLP said in a published statement.

According to the statement, the motion had been filed in Strasbourg because Ukrainian courts were heavily influenced by senior state officials. In one incident, a Pechersk court allowed the special pre-trial investigation stage of a case against Yanukovych to be completed in his absence denying him permission to participate via video link.

"They have allowed unfair trials to proceed which infringe his basic human right to be present and to defend himself against allegations which President Yanukovych vigorously denies," Hage asserted.

According to the complaint, Ukraine has violated several of Yanukovych's human rights, including the right to a fair trial, the right to an efficient investigation of attempts made upon his life and the right to protection, as well as the right not to be discriminated against because of his political status and opinions.