European Court Condemns Russia For 2006 Expulsion Of Georgians

The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Russia for the mass deportation of Georgian citizens in 2006.

The Strasbourg-based court ruled on July 3 that the expulsions had been "arbitrary" and violated the European Convention on Human Rights.

It upheld Georgia's claims that Russian authorities had implemented "a coordinated policy of arresting, detaining, and expelling Georgian nationals" living in Russia.

The Georgian goverment said more than 4,600 expulsion orders were issued by Russia from September 2006 to January 2007 and that more than 2,300 were detained and forcibly expelled.

The controversial expulsion campaign came two years before Russia and Georgia fought a brief war over Georgia's pro-Russian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

With reporting by AFP