A press release from the European Court of Human Rights reports that the court ruled in the case of “Seligenenko and Others v. Ukraine”, establishing the fact of human rights violations.

Four applicants, three of whom were from Crimea (two from Sevastopol, one from Alupka) and one from Donetsk, moved to Kyiv after the occupation of Crimea and hostilities in Donbas.

After being denied the right to vote in the 2015 local elections, the applicants appealed to the Ukrainian courts, including the appellate court, which ruled that the right to vote in the local elections in Ukraine was granted to citizens residing in the respective constituencies.

The press release states that during the year, the applicants had been living in Kyiv and paid taxes. Crimea and Donetsk were indicated as their place of residence. However, the Ukrainian authorities did not consider the circumstances in which the applicants could not exercise their right to express their will in the local communities and districts concerned.

"The Court found that having disregarded the applicants' special situation, the authorities had discriminated against them in the exercise of their right to vote in the local elections. There had been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 to the Convention", - the statement said.

The ECtHR decided to pay the applicants compensation for moral damage of EUR 4.5 thousand each (UAH 137,176).