A follower of the Falun Gong religious group and a failed asylum seeker did not have his human rights breached when Russian authorities deported him to China, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday.
The 74-year-old retired professor, known only as Y, lived in St. Petersburg from April 2003 to May 2007. He had unsuccessfully applied for asylum in Russia on a number of occasions, arguing he would be persecuted if sent back to China.
The Strasbourg-based court rejected Y's case on the ground of a lack of evidence, pointing out his wife had told Russian investigators that he had not been mistreated following his deportation.
The European Convention on Human Rights prohibits the extradition of a person to a foreign state if they are likely to be subjected to torture or face "degrading and inhuman treatment."
(AFP, December 6, 2008)
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