Court rehabilitates Emperor Nicholas II, royal family members
The presidium of the Russian Supreme Court has ruled to
rehabilitate the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and the members of his
family.
"The presidium of the Supreme Court has ruled to recognize Nikolay
Alexandrovich Romanov [Nicholas II], Alexandra Fyodorovna Romanova, Olga
Nikolayevna Romanova, Tatyana Nikolayevna Romanova, Maria Nikolayevna Romanova,
Anastasia Nikolayevna Romanova, and Alexey Nikolayevich Romanov as groundlessly
repressed and rehabilitate them," a Supreme Court judge said in
pronouncing the ruling.
The court so granted an appeal by lawyers for the Romanov royal family against
an earlier court decision denying their rehabilitation.
The presidium ruled to invalidate an earlier determination by a Supreme Court
panel, which found that Nicholas II and members of his family were not eligible
for rehabilitation.
German Lukyanov, a lawyer for the Romanov royal family, insisted in the appeal
that Nicholas II and his family members were subjected to reprisals based on
social, religious, and political motives and that the Russian law stipulates
that all victims of political reprisals are eligible for rehabilitation.
"Reprisals are coercion measures applied by government bodies invested
with administrative powers to limit someone's rights and freedoms based on
class, social, and religious motives," he said.
"The body that made the decision to execute the members of the royal
family was invested with such powers," he said.
The prosecution said at the court that the rehabilitation of the members of the
royal family would be unlawful.
"The members of the royal family were not arrested on political grounds
and no court ruled to execute them. In addition, there is no information
indicating that any court rulings were handed down in relation to the members
of the royal family," he said.
The Russian Supreme Court denied the rehabilitation of Nicholas II and members
of his family last November, thus upholding a decision by the Prosecutor
General's Office that the emperor, his wife, and five children, who were shot
in 1918, were not eligible for rehabilitation.
Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Fyodorovna Romanova, their children Alexey
Nikolayevich, Olga Nikolayevna, Tatyana Nikolayevna, Maria Nikolayevna, and
Anastasia Nikolayevna, and also the royal family's doctor, Yevgeny Botkin, maid
Anna Demidova, cook Ivan Kharitonov, and butler Aloizy Trupp were shot in
Yekaterinburg early on July 17, 1918.
The remains of the members of the royal family and their retinue were
discovered buried near an old road not far from Yekaterinburg in July 1991.
Expert analyses conducted as part of a criminal case pursued by the Russian
Prosecutor General's Office confirmed that the remains were those of the
above-mentioned people. The remains were buried at the St.
Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg
on July 17, 1998
Source: Interfax
