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LUTSENKO v. UKRAINE JUDGMENT
had communicated with the media, plainly attracted considerable public attention. It can also be accepted that being accused of abuse of office, he had the right to reply to such an accusation through the media. The prosecuting authorities seeking the applicant’s arrest explicitly indicated the applicant’s communication with the media as one of the grounds for his arrest and accused him of distorting public opinion about crimes committed by him, discrediting the prosecuting authorities and influencing the upcoming trial in order to avoid criminal liability (see paragraph 26 above). 109. In the Court’s opinion, such reasoning by the prosecuting authorities clearly demonstrates their attempt to punish the applicant for publicly disagreeing with accusations against him and for asserting his innocence, which he had the right to do. In such circumstances, the Court cannot but find that the restriction of the applicant’s liberty permitted under Article 5 § 1 (c) was applied not only for the purpose of bringing him before the competent legal authority on reasonable suspicion of having committed an offence, but also for other reasons. 110. There has accordingly been a violation of Article 18 of the Convention taken in conjunction with Article 5. III. APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION 111. Article 41 of the Convention provides: “If the Court finds that there has been a violation of the Convention or the Protocols thereto, and if the internal law of the High Contracting Party concerned allows only partial reparation to be made, the Court shall, if necessary, afford just satisfaction to the injured party.”
A. Damage 112. The applicant claimed that he sustained non-pecuniary damage, but left it to the Court’s discretion to fix the appropriate amount of compensation. 113. The Government considered that the applicant’s claim ought to be rejected as lacking in specification and unsubstantiated. 114. The Court, deciding in equity, awards the applicant 15,000 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary damage. B. Costs and expenses 115. The applicant made no claim under this head. Accordingly the Court makes no award.