The European Parliament has passed a resolution deeply critical of the sentencing of seven pro-democracy protestors arrested in Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square during a mass demonstration in May 2012, a day before the inauguration of President Vladimir Putin.

Seven protestors were sentenced on 24 February to prison terms ranging from four years to two-and-a-half years.

In the parliament’s resolution, MEPs expressed their concern about the sentencing and called on the Russian authorities “to take concrete steps to address the deterioration of human rights, in particular by ceasing the campaign of harassment against civil-society organisations and activists.”

MEPs drew attention to the fact that at Bolotnaya Square “numerous Russian and international human rights organisations reported that disproportionate measures and aggressive actions by the security forces as well as excessive use of violence led to the outbreak of violence followed by arbitrary arrests of the protesters.”

The resolution additonally called on the Russian executive and legislature “to reconsider and eventually repeal recently adopted legislative acts and measures that are in conflict with the country’s stated commitments on human rights and fundamental freedoms as a member of the Council of Europe, and to take into account the proposals of its Human Rights Ombudsman and those of the Human Rights Council to the President of the Russian Federation.”

Kristiina Ojuland MEP, a former foreign minister of Estonia, told the parliament: “In addition to the notorious Khodorkovsky, Magnistky and Pussy Riot cases, the recent guilty verdict against eight of the 2012 Bolotnaya Square demonstrators, as well as the forced psychiatric treatment of one of the activists, has been politically motivated. The corrupt regime in Russia has become confident in securing its position and does not hesitate to use all means to make this clear.”

Marietje Schaake, a Dutch liberal, called on the EU to take a firm and united approach to human rights abuses in Russia: “The treatment of the Bolotnaya Square demonstrators and, in particular, the house arrest of Aleksei Navalny are reminders of the pressure not only on freedom of assembly but also on freedom of speech in the media or on the internet. They are reminders of the severe repression exerted against Russian civil society as well as political opponents. We must continue to condemn such human rights violations in the strongest possible terms, and we must and will show Russia that there will be consequences.”

Shortly before the sentences were handed down, Mikhail Khodorkovsky predicted they would be “punitive and cruel” and said that Russians’ support for the demonstrators is “important not just for convicts and their relatives but to everyone, who cares about the fate of Russia and its democratic development.”

Catherine Ashton, the EU’s most senior diplomat, herself expressed concern after the sentencing, calling the sentences “disproportionate” and drawing attention to “procedural shortcomings and long pre-trial detention” which raise “questions once again as to the state of the rule of law.”