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THE rights of more than 1,000 prisoners were breached when they were prevented from voting in elections, European judges said yesterday.
The case before the ECHR concerned 1,015 prisoners who were behind bars throughout various elections between 2009 and 2011.
Grouping all of the longstanding prisoner voting cases against Britain, the court ruled that there had been a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights — right to a free election.
But the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected the applicants’ claims for compensation and legal costs.
Former inmate John Hirst has been campaigning for prisoner voting rights since 2001 when his legal challenge at the High Court failed.
He said: “It is a real shame that compensation has not been awarded. While I can get some satisfaction from the ruling, the government keeps ignoring what the ECHR is saying.”
