Yerevan/Mediamax/. Today the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled on the judgments for Chiragov and Others v. Armenia and Sargsyan v. Azerbaijan cases.

The court held that the Armenian Government had to pay EUR 5,000 in respect of pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage to each of the applicants and a total amount of GBP 28,642.87 for costs and expenses.

In the case of Sargsyan v. Azerbaijan, the court held that the Azerbaijani Government had to pay the applicant EUR 5,000 in respect of pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage and EUR 30,000 in costs and expenses.

ECHR opened the Chiragov and Others v. Armenia case in 2005. It concerned six Azerbaijani refugees complaining that they were unable to return to their homes and property in the district of Lachin, in Azerbaijan, from where they had been forced to flee in 1992 during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The applicants demanded restoration of their rights to the property or just compensation from Armenia.

In the Sargsyan v. Azerbaijan case, the family of Armenian refugees applied to ECHR in 2006. They demanded restoration of their right to return to the village in Azerbaijan-controlled Shahumyan region, which they had been forced to flee during the mentioned conflict, and to have access to and use their property there.