Strasbourg Katyn verdict due on 21 October
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
11.10.2013 10:02
The European Court of Human Rights will declare its final verdict on 21 October on whether it is entitled to judge if Russia carried out an adequate investigation into the WWII Katyn massacre.
European Court of Human Rights: photo -wikipedia
According to lawyer Ireneusz Kaminski, who is representing 15 Polish relatives of victims, the judgement was made on 5 September.
In April 2012, the Strasbourg court had concluded that the killings of over 22,000 Poles – largely reserve officers - constituted “a war crime,” and that several of the defendants had suffered “inhumane treatment” by Russian authorities while trying to obtain justice.
However, the Strasbourg court had been divided over whether it was able to rule on the adequacy of Russia's 1990-2004 investigation , because the European Convention on Human Rights only came into force in Russia in 1998, eight years after Russia's Katyn investigation began.
Nevertheless, the Poles appealed and in February 2013, the matter was taken up by the court's 17-member Grand Chamber.
If the chamber rules against Russia, the Katyn investigation could be reopened, and compensation for victims' families could ultimately occur.
The Katyn massacre encompasses mass killings carried out in the spring of 1940 at several points across the former Soviet Union, including the Katyn Forest near Smolensk.
Moscow did not admit responsibility for the crime until 1990. Until then, the murders had been blamed on Nazi Germany.
No Russian has ever been tried for the crime, neither have the victims been formally rehabilitated by a Russian court.
The process of rehabilitation is normally applied to those unjustly sentenced in court, and it would clear the victims of any stain on their honour under Russian law. (nh)
Source: PAP