The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has found that the deprivation of liberty of two citizens detained during the peaceful “Electric Yerevan” protest did not comply with the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights, according to the NGO Rights Protection Without Borders.

In a judgment delivered on June 11, the court found a violation of Article 5 §1 of the European Convention (right to liberty and security) in the cases of Ashghyan and Poghosyan v. Armenia (applications Nos. 5293/16 and 5295/16), concluding that the applicants’ deprivation of liberty had been unlawful.

The case concerned two citizens, Abraham Ashghyan and Narine Poghosyan, who were detained by police during the peaceful “Electric Yerevan” protest held on June 23, 2015. They were deprived of their liberty without the existence of a reasonable suspicion that they had committed any criminal offense.

The ECHR reiterated that Article 5 of the Convention requires any deprivation of liberty to be free from arbitrariness and to comply with the Convention’s safeguards. Referring to its previous case law, particularly Ishkhanyan v. Armenia, the court concluded that the applicants’ arrests had not been based on a “reasonable suspicion,” one of the fundamental prerequisites under Article 5. On that basis, it found a violation of Article 5 §1 of the Convention.

As just satisfaction, the ECHR ordered the Republic of Armenia to pay each applicant €2,000 in compensation for non-pecuniary damage, as well as €250 to cover legal and other expenses.

“Although the events described took place around eleven years ago, the judgment is significant because it reaffirmed that measures involving deprivation of liberty cannot be applied to participants in peaceful assemblies without sufficient factual grounds and the existence of a reasonable suspicion,” the statement said.