The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday condemned Russia, ruling that the 2004 trial of physicist Valentin Danilov for betrayal of state secrecy, which had resulted in his imprisonment, had "
failed" impartiality
”.
Read also: A Russian physicist freed
Unanimously, the seven judges of the ECHR considered that the composition of the jury which had found the scientist guilty raised "
a certain number of objective problems of impartiality
", and that the impossibility for the accused to cross-examine the witnesses had "
violated his right to a fair trial
".
In 2004, Valentin Danilov, a renowned physicist at the head of the Krasnoyarsk Center for Thermodynamics, and suspected of having disclosed state secrets in the context of collaboration with Chinese academics, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for high treason.
Danilov argued on the contrary that the information in question was available from "
public access
" sources
.
He complained of a biased and unfair trial.
In its decision, the European Court of Human Rights underlines that “
four of the 12 jurors held a state security clearance
”, and “
doubts
” that such a jury could be “
representative
”.
She considers that the apparent “
bias
” of the jury should have been “
controlled
” by a judge, which had been refused.
She also considers that the impossibility for the scientist to “
cross-examine
” the witnesses “
seriously violated his rights
”.
The ECHR therefore concluded that Russia had violated Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, guaranteeing the right to a fair trial.
It also condemned Russia for its refusal to provide it with the documents of the criminal trial, contrary to article 38 on the obligation to provide the documents necessary for the examination of a case.
It imposed on Russia the payment of the sum of 21,100 euros to Valentin Danilov for "
moral damage
".
Danilov, now 72, was released early in November 2012. He was released on parole.
“
I still haven't been told what the secret I was carrying,
” he said at the time.
The European Court of Human Rights was established in Strasbourg in 1959 by the member states of the Council of Europe.
Its mission is to study and rule on violations of the European Convention on Human Rights which are reported to it.
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