Russia urged to heed Euro-ruling

MOSCOW, May 21 (UPI) -- The Russian government should accept a ruling against it by the European Court of Human Rights, national ombudsman Vladimir Lukin said Friday.

Lukin, Russia's Human Rights Commissioner, called on the government of President Vladimir Putin to accept the Euro-court's ruling issued earlier this week in favor of billionaire oligarch Vladimir Gusinsky, the former owner of the NTV national television network. The court ordered the Kremlin to pay Gusinsky 88,000 euros, around $105,000 as compensation for his court expenses.

"We should treat the European court's ruling simply: the European court has issued this ruling and we need to carry it out," Lukin told Interfax news agency reporters at a news conference in their main office.

"This is a qualified court, and its decision most likely points to the fact that our judicial agencies' actions were unqualified" in the Gusinsky case, Lukin said.