The European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday against the Russian Federation for violating the right to freedom of expression through fines, prosecution of individuals, and blockage of news outlets. The actions target the publications of “undesirable news” concerning the war in Ukraine.

The ruling described that soon after the Russian Federation commenced a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian government took steps to approve legislation prohibiting unwanted information about the invasion. Consequently, the Russian government blocked independent and mass news websites, including Novaya Gazeta, Dozhd TV, 7×7, Mediazona, Sobesednik, Agentstvo, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, BBC Russian Service and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for their coverage of the war in Ukraine. In addition to censorship, Novaya Gazeta, its editor-in-chief Dmitriy Muratov, Dozhd TV and its director Natalya Sindeyeva were also threatened with prosecution for publishing undesirable news concerning the war in Ukraine.

Apart from mass media, the court’s judgment included 161 individual applications. Prosecutions of those individuals by the Russian Federation covered a variety of activities: some participated in anti-war journalistic projects, such as Vladimir Kara-Murza, Dmytro Gordon and Mikhail Afanasyev. Among the applicants, Olga Smirnova was sentenced to 6 years for sharing posts against the war on social media. A big majority of applicants were detained and fined for having “No to War” or “For Peace” posters, participating in anti-war protests, defacing a symbol of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine–a letter “Z” or comparing “Z” to a Nazi symbol. Chuzayaeva was fined for holding up a paper with a Ukrainian flag and a heart.

The court ruled that the Russian Federation has violated Article 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the Convention), which provides for the freedom to “hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority.” The court found that the measures imposed by the Russian Federation were disproportionate and unnecessary in a democratic society, thus violating the freedom of expression.

The court also found that the Russian Federation breached Articles 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 34 of the Convention in relation to the manner in which the arrests, pre-trials and trials of the applicants were conducted.

The court held that the Russian Federation is to compensate the applicants with established amounts within 3 months.