The European Court of Human Rights is to hear the case of a Russian journalist arrested for extremism, the TASS news agency reported Monday.
Alexander Sokolov, a former reporter for the RBC newspaper, was arrested in July 2015. He is asking the court to recognize violations of his right to freedom and personal security and to his right to a fair trial, his lawyer Dmitry Dinze told TASS.
Sokolov and two of his associates, Valery Parfyonov and Yury Mukhin, were arrested for alleged involvement in extremist left-wing organization Armiya Voli Naroda (Army of the People's Will). The group has been banned in Russia since 2010.
Prosecutors claim that the men continued the organization's activities under a different name after the group was banned.
Sokolov denies all charges and says his prosecution is connected with his professional activity. If found guilty he faces up to eight years in prison.
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