Latvia's Supreme Court to decide on deported Russians' status

On Tuesday the Senate of the Latvian Supreme Court will consider the legal status of Russian citizens Tatiana and Karina Slivenko deported from the country five years ago.

Tatiana Slivenko had lived in Latvia all her life before she and her daughter Karina were in 1999 deported to Russia as family of a former Russian servicemen. Her elderly sick parents remain in Riga.

In October 2003 the European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg found serious violations in the action of the Latvian authorities. In particular, they violated the right of a family for accommodation and intruded on their privacy without sufficient grounds.

The deportation was found illegal. The Court obliged Latvia to pay the Slivenko family a moral damage of ?20,000.

Early in 2004 the Latvian government paid the compensation, but the issue of the Slivenkos' status and their right to visit Latvia and stay there remains open. The answers are to be given by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Inga Reine, Latvia's representative to international courts, told journalists that Tatiana and Karina Slivenko might be given temporary or permanent residence permit.