European Court of Human Rights court case "Kononov v. Latvia"

On 20 May the European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber appeals court will hold a hearing in the case "Kononov v. Latvia".

Vasilij Kononov submitted his application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2004 complaining about several breaches of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The applicant considered that the Latvian courts had tried him for acts, which at their time of commitment, were not considered as being liable for criminal prosecution under national or international law.

On 20 September 2007, the decision of the ECHR accepted for review a complaint by the applicant on a possible breach of Article 7 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which states that no one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence under national or international law at the time when it was committed.

On 30 April 2004 the Criminal Affairs Division of the Supreme Court of Latvia had found the applicant guilty of war crimes and that on 27 May 1944 the applicant had led a unit of armed Red Partisans in a punitive expedition on the village of Mazie Bati in which nine villagers were killed: six men and three women, one in the final stages of pregnancy.

In a judgment of 24 July 2008 the Court held, by four votes to three, that there had been a violation of Article 7. of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.  That same year on 14 October, the Latvian government decided to appeal the ruling of the ECHR submitting an appeal to the 17-member Great Chamber which then set a hearing date of 27 January 2009.

The case now has the involvement of third parties – Lithuania on Latvia's side and Russia for the case of Vasilij Kononov. The Grand Chamber of the ECHR is about to deliver its final judgment and a full summary of the facts of the court case will be available on the home page of the ECHR on the afternoon on 20 May 2009.

http://www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/Press/Multimedia/Webcasts+of+public+hearings/

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