Court orders Russia to pay $35,000 to Jewish activist

The European Court of Human Rights orders the Russian government to pay $35,000 to a Jewish activist from Moscow whom authorities illegally imprisoned at a demonstration.

The ruling relates to the arrest on May 6, 2012, of Evgeny Frumkin, a 53-year-old Muscovite organizer of many rallies and events critical of actions deemed undemocratic by the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Frumkin, who is among the founders of Russia’s pro-democracy movement during the last days of communism, was arrested at a Moscow square during riots that erupted during a rally protesting Putin’s Inauguration as 4th President of Russia, on May 7 that year.

Frumkin was arrested and sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest for disobeying police orders. But the European court, a pan-continental entity whose decisions are binding on 47 countries including Russia but rarely enforceable, found this violated his right to personal integrity and the right to a fair trial, RIA Novosti reported, as well as the freedom of assembly.

— JTA