![]() ![]() Emphasizing on the importance of tolerance, democracy and pluralism, the Court held that the State of Lithuania violated Article 14 owing to the non fulfillment of its positive obligation to respect the right to respect for private life under Article 8. The Court found that the comments on applicant’s Facebook post affected the applicants’ dignity that falls under the realm of private life. The Court observed that such treatment by domestic authorities lacks reasonable justification in circumstances where the authorities combat hate speech by applying criminal law. The Court noted that the applicants’ expression of affection should have been protected by the Lithuanian authorities to secure the effective enjoyment of the rights and freedoms guaranteed under the ECHR. The Court built its findings on the difference in treatment by public authorities exclusively on the basis of sexual orientation. ![]() The applicants complained that they were being treated differently by the domestic authorities because of their sexual orientation. However, the Lithuanian authorities refused to initiate the pre-trial investigations. Owing to the hateful comments posted on the said applicant’s post on his facebook page, inciting hatred and violence based on sexual orientation, the applicants approached the domestic authorities. One of the applicants posted a photograph of them kissing on his social network page. The applicants, nationals of Lithuania, are in a same-sex relationship. The European Court of Human Rights found a violation of Article 14 read in conjunction with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and Article 13 owing to the failure of Lithuanian authorities to effectively respond to applicants’ complaint against discrimination.
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