Nikolay Tess ( lv, Nikolajs Tess, russian: Николай Тэсс; 1921 – December 7, 2006 in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the B ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

) was one of the few functionaries in charge of political repressions in the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

who were convicted for this activity. Nikolajs Tess, a former operative (russian: оперативный уполномоченный) of Ministry for State Security, a citizen of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, was the 10th Soviet official (and second Russian citizen) charged in Latvia under the Criminal Law Article 68.1, crimes against humanity, in relation to mass deportations from Latvia in 1941-1949. Tess was charged for his role in deportations of March 25, 1949. According to the indictment made in March 2001, "Tess compiled and signed an order to deport 42 families, 138 people, to forced settlement in remote parts of the Soviet Union. There were 14 children among the deported." He was found guilty on December 16, 2003 and sentenced to 2 years of suspended imprisonment after a lengthy process delayed by ill health. Afterwards, he appealed to Latvian Supreme Court (unsuccessfully) and

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

(the latter found complaint partly inadmissible in 2008). Tess did not consider himself guilty, claiming that he was acting in the capacity for only 2½ months and he was mainly in charge of verifying the match of the lists prepared by local administration against the Ministry lists. Russia has criticized Latvia for trials of former Soviet officials and

Soviet partisans Soviet partisans were members of resistance movements that fought a guerrilla war against Axis forces during World War II in the Soviet Union, the previously Soviet-occupied territories of interwar Poland in 1941–45 and eastern Finland. T ...

accusing of violation of international standards (e.g.,

Russian Foreign Ministry The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MFA Russia; russian: Министерство иностранных дел Российской Федерации, МИД РФ) is the central government institution charged with lea ...

note of November 18, 2004). Tess died in a Riga hospital on December 7, 2006, at the age of 86. In 2014, the European Court of Human Rights declared the application of Nikolay Tess inadmissible. Concerning the merits, the complaint was rejected due to non-exhaustion of domestic remedies — Mr Tess had not contested the law the conviction was based on before the Constitutional Court.Press release 380(2014)
European Court of Human Rights

References

External links

A November 2003 article about the case

A December 2003 article about the conviction

ECtHR decision
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tess, Nikolajs 1921 births 2006 deaths Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights European Court of Human Rights cases involving Latvia Political repression in the Soviet Union Politics of Latvia Russian people convicted of crimes against humanity Soviet people

See also

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