The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers discussed the non-execution of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of Ilascu and others versus Moldova and the Russian Federation on June 6, 2007. According to the Moldovan Foreign Ministry, the Committee of Ministers expressed regret that the liberation of Andrei Ivantoc and Tudor Petrov-Popa was not the result of a fair act of justice, but another proof that the secessionist authorities in Tiraspol ignore the fundamental human values. On behalf of the EU, the Germany’s delegation condemned the non-implementation of the ECHR decision in the case of Ilascu and called on the sides involved to execute in future all the judgments that apply to them and not use the Ilascu case as a precedent. Earlier, the Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis also welcomed the release of Andrei Ivantoc and Tudor Petrov-Popa after 15 years of illegal imprisonment, but regretted that it has come so late and only after they have served the sentence imposed by an unlawful court in the so-called “Moldovan Republic of Transnistria” in December 1993. Andrei Ivantoc, Tudor Petrov-Popa, Ilie Ilascu and Alexandru Lesco were arrested in June 1992 at their homes in Tiraspol. They were accused of “anti-Soviet activities and illegally combating the legitimate government of the State of Transnistria, under the direction of the Moldovan Popular Front and Romania.” They were also charged with a number of crimes which included two murders. On 9 December 1993, Ilascu was sentenced to death. The other applicants were sentenced to terms of 12 to 15 years’ imprisonment. Ilascu and Lesco were released in May 2001 and June 2004 respectively. In July 2004, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Moldova and the Russian Federation to pay compensation to the four applicants, and asked them to “take all the necessary steps to put an end to the arbitrary detention of the applicants still imprisoned and secure their immediate release.” The Tiraspol authorities did not comply yet, while the Russian Federation said it could not intervene to set the two prisoners free.