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July 17 (UPI) -- In separate judgments Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Moscow for its treatment of two high-profile cases -- the arrest of the activist band Pussy Riot and the probe of journalist Anna Politkovskaya's death. The court ruled Russia violated five articles of its convention with the arrest and conviction of Pussy Riot in 2012, when three members of the band were arrested after performing a protest song in a Moscow cathedral.
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The ECHR cited "overcrowded conditions" when the band members were transported to and from court, and "humiliation" of their exposure in a glass dock during the trial, which judges said is a breach of Article 3 of the convention.
Moreover, the ECHR said the Russian court twice violated Article 10 -- freedom of expression -- by banning access to the group's videos online, and for condemning the group's conduct and clothing at trial, rather than examining the content of their protest song.
The European court said Pussy Riot's lack of access to legal aid and their extended detention before trial also broke the convention.
The court stressed that "an accused's right to communicate with his or her lawyer without being overheard was one of the basic requirements of a fair trial in a democratic society."
Politkovskaya, a writer for independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead in 2006 in an elevator in her apartment building. Five men were ultimately convicted in her death, including a police officer.
The European court ruled Tuesday Russia failed to "take adequate investigatory steps" to find who commissioned the shooting, a violation of convention Article 2.
