European Court of Human Rights orders Russia to pay compensation to Novaya Gazeta for past libel rulings

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that the Russian government must pay a total of 15,000 euros (about $16,120) to Novaya Gazeta in compensation for declaring multiple articles published by the newspaper to be libel.

The articles in question include a story about the possible ties between Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and one of the world’s most expensive yachts; a story about alleged torture by the FSB against Kyrgyzstani citizen Khusnidin Zainabidinov; and a story about the Russian authorities using the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi to discredit the political opposition. All three articles were found at various times to constitute libel by Moscow’s Basmanny Court.

In addition to the ECHR’s decision in the Novaya Gazeta case, the European court ruled that the Russian authorities must pay 7,500 euros (about $8,060) to the company that owns the Russian news outlet Vedomosti in compensation for a 2014 ruling in which Moscow’s Ostankino District Court found that one of the outlet’s articles constituted libel against Igor Sechin.

In all four cases, the ECHR ruled that Russian courts violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of expression.