Rights court rules against Russia in Transdniestria education row

(STRASBOURG) - The European Court of Human Rights ruled Friday that Russia was liable for violating children's right to education after Moldovan authorities forcibly closed schools in Moldova's Russian-speaking separatist region of Transdniestria.

In the 16-to-one decision, the Strasbourg-based court ordered Russia to pay each of the 170 applicants 6,000 euros ($7,800) in damages, or a total of more than one million euros.

The affected students and their parents, all Moldovan citizens, filed complaints over a language policy introduced in 1992 and 1994 that required Moldovan -- one of the region's three official languages, with Russian and Ukrainian -- to be written in the Cyrillic alphabet.

Authorities closed down schools that continued to use the Latin alphabet, forcibly evicting the complainants from their schools in the early 2000s.

The court cleared Moldova of any rights violations, while faulting Russia because of its influence and financial support for the separatist regime in Transdniestria.

"The Court found that the separatist regime could not survive without Russia's continued military, economic and political support and that the closure of the schools therefore fell within Russia's jurisdiction," the ECHR said in a statement.

"The Republic of Moldova, on the other hand, had not only refrained from supporting the regime but had made considerable efforts to support the applicants themselves by paying for the rent and refurbishment of the new school premises as well as for all equipment, teachers' salaries and transport costs," it added.

In a statement Friday, Moscow said it was "perplexed" by the ruling, which it found "politically motivated" and "biased."

The Russian foreign ministry said Moscow participated "solely in the role of a mediator" in the Transdniestria conflict. The ministry also rejected the argument that Russia had exerted control over the region.

The international community does not recognise Transdniestria, which borders Ukraine and split from Moldova in 1990, as a separate entity.