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European court rejects bid to overturn Romania vote annulment / Photo: © AFP
European court rejects bid to overturn Romania vote annulment
Europe's top rights court Thursday rejected Romanian far-right candidate Calin Georgescu's bid to overturn the annulment of last year's presidential election where he won the first round amid claims of Russian interference.
The European Court of Human Rights said a committee of three judges "unanimously declared the application inadmissible", adding that the decision was "final".
Georgescu -- who denies any links to Moscow -- shot to prominence almost overnight on TikTok to unexpectedly win the first round of a presidential election last November.
Romania's Constitutional Court cancelled the election just before the second round was to be held in December, after claims of Russian meddling and a "massive" social media promotion of Georgescu.
Georgescu denounced the annulment by a Romanian court as a "formalised coup d'etat" and appealed to the ECHR.
The Strasbourg-based court, part of the Council of Europe rights body, is tasked with implementing the European human rights convention in the 46 signatory countries.
The court on Thursday rejected Georgescu's appeal, which he had based in part on the right to free elections "in the choice of the legislature".
"The court held, in particular, that in the light of the constitutional structure of Romania, there was no indication that the powers of the president of Romania are such as to make that office part of the 'legislature' of the respondent state," the court said in its ruling.
It also found that "Romania had no case to answer" under other articles he had cited on the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, and the right to an effective remedy.
Georgescu had earlier requested a so-called interim measure from the ECHR, an urgent ruling issued exceptionally in cases where applicants face an imminent risk of irreparable harm.
But the court in January also rejected that request, saying it "did not concern an imminent risk of irreparable harm".
The Romanian government has ordered a fresh presidential vote, with a first round to take place on May 4 and a second on May 18 if no first-round candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote.
S. Sokolow--BTZ
