WW2 veteran not guilty of war crimes

The European court of Human Rights has upheld the complaint of a World War Two veteran against Latvia, where he had been found guilty of war crimes, reports Latvian Russian-language newspaper Vesti Segodnya, which quotes his lawyer.

Vasily Kononov, a Russian citizen, had asked for over 5 million euros from the Latvian government for what he claimed was bias in applying criminal law. The conditions of compensation to him have not been made public, the paper writes.

During the war, Kononov was the head of a partisan unit, fighting against the Nazis on Latvian territory. He was awarded 27 national awards.

In 1998 Kononov was arrested and charged with killing nine civilians in 1944. He didn't deny the claims but said the people had been Nazi collaborators.

Kononov has accused the Latvian government of politicising the proceedings and attempting to rewrite history.