Soros and the European Court of Human Rights: a sentence for insider trading and two judges associated with Open Society.

This article is based on the research by Francesca Totolo, which appeared on lucadonadel.it¹⁾La sentenza francese contro George Soros, la Corte Europea dei Diritti dell’Uomo e i suoi giudici., lucadonadel.it 2017-08-28.

In 1988 George Soros bought a participation in Société Générale, the French banking colossus privatized the previous year. The value of the stock of the bank would see a quick, significant increase that resulted in the French judicial opening an investigation for insider trading. George Soros joined the list of the people investigated in 1993 and finally in 2002 he was awarded 2.2€ million by the French court²⁾Soros in £1.4m fine for insider trading, The Guardian 2002-12-21..

Unsatisfied with the judgment, George Soros appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in 2006; the final sentence arrived in 2011, the ECHR ruled against the billionaire³⁾George Soros loses appeal over SocGen insider trading conviction, The Telegraph 2011-10-06..

It is interesting to note that in the meanwhile, two judges connected with Soros’ Open Society Foundation joined the ECHR. The judges of the ECHR are appointed by the Council of Europe from a list of candidates presented by member states. Their mandate lasts 9 years and they are required not to take part in any activity that would compromise their independence. The two judges who made a career in Open Society and then joined the ECHR are András Sajó from Hungary and Yonko Grozev from Bulgaria. They did not take part in Soros’ trial for insider trading.

 

Source: ECHR website.

 

András Sajó’s whole career is linked to George Soros. He held the chair of Comparative Constitutional Law at the Central European University for 15 years and was on the Board of Directors of the Open Society Justice Initiative of New York for 7.
The Central European University has George Soros and his sons in the Board of Trustees.
András Sajó’s tenure at the ECHR started in 2008 and ended in January 2017.

 

Source: Central European University.

 

Yonko Grozev’s tenure started in 2015.

 

Very much like his Hungarian colleague, Grozev has worked for the Open Society Justice Initiative in New York for 5 years, but he was also a member of the Open Society Institute of Sofia for 4.
Additionally, he was Chair of the Board and a founding member of “Risk Monitor”, a Bulgarian NGO funded by Open Society.⁴⁾Donors, Risk Monitor.