ECHR repeals verdict of HR violation in Iraqi asylum-seeker case

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday issued a decision, which annuls the Court’s previous judgment concerning Finland in the case of the return of an asylum-seeker to Iraq, said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a press release.

Earlier, in 14 November 2019, the ECHR accused Finland of violation of European Convention on Human Rights in respect of the death of a rejected Iraqi asylum seeker in his country in 2017.

The ECHR that time also ordered the state to pay the applicant EUR 20,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage and EUR 4,500 in respect of legal costs.

The Court on Tuesday´s verdict considered that the applicant had knowingly deceived the Court by presenting false evidence.

In the case it was falsely told that an Iraqi man named Ali , who was denied asylum in 2017, deported to Iraq and killed a few weeks later.

The ECHR also rejected the applicant’s application as an abuse of the right of individual application.

If the facts had been known to the Court before it issued its decision, the application would have been considered inadmissible under Article 35 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

On 6 March 2020, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) launched a criminal investigation of a suspected aggravated fraud and aggravated forgery that are linked to the documents and evidence submitted by the appellant to the European Court of Human Rights.

In a decision issued by the Helsinki District Court on 11 February 2021, the appellant was sentenced to 1 year and 10 months' imprisonment for aggravated fraud and aggravated forgery and a false statement in official proceedings. The processing of the matter is still pending in the Helsinki Court of Appeal.

Finland submitted a request under Rule 80 to the European Court of Human Rights on 6 September 2020. The request was complemented after the criminal investigation and national judicial proceedings progressed.