European Court Finds No Russia's Violations in Life Sentencing Case

The Grand Chamber of the European Human Rights Court on Tuesday found that there had been no violations committed by Russia with regard to allegedly discriminatory life imprisonment of two Russian citizens, Alsan Khamtokhu and Artyom Aksenchik, following the examination of complaints from them.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The applicants, who are spending their life sentences in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area following convictions for a number of serious crimes, alleged that, as adult males, they were discriminated against compared to other categories of convicts, such as women and persons under 18 or over 65, who are exempt from life imprisonment under Article 57 of the Russian Criminal Code.

"The European Court of Human Rights held: by sixteen votes to one, that there had been no violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights, taken in conjunction with Article 5 (right to liberty and security) of the Convention, as regards the difference in treatment in life sentencing in Russia on account of age; and by ten votes to seven, that there had been no violation of Article 14 of the Convention, taken in conjunction with Article 5, as regards the difference in treatment on account of sex," the court's press release reads.

According to the Grand Chamber judgment, the difference in sentencing is motivated by legitimate "principles of justice and humanity."

The applications were lodged by the two inmates with the European Court of Human Rights in October 2008 and February 2011.

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