November 7, 2007 (Liege, Belgium) — Yesterday the legal team for Andrej Kashechkin (formerly with Astana), the Kazakh cyclist who tested positive for blood doping while on vacation in Turkey this August, revealed their arguments why such doping tests are a violation of human rights reports AP and AFP.

Kashechkin’s lawyers are suing the UCI in a Liege civil court, challenging the right of sports federations to do out-of-competition doping tests. They claim that the UCI is in violation of articles 6, 8 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). His lawyers also pointed out that the time of the unannounced anti-doping test done on Kashechkin and the analysis of his B sample did not respect the UCI’s own regulatory time limits in such matters. Kashechkin risks facing a two-year ban over the failed doping test.

Lawyers for the UCI contested whether the Belgian tribunal has the legal competency to rule on this case. They pointed out that it concerns a Kazakh cyclist who officially lives in Monaco (Kashechkin has lived in Liege for many years) riding for a Swiss-based team and is attacking an entity of Swiss law (presumably a reference to the UCI being based in Aigle, Switzerland).

Observers suggest that by extension the Olympic movement and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) are also on trial. The association of professional cycling teams (IPCT) and the International Association of Professional Cycling Groups (AIGCP), representing the riders, voluntarily joined the UCI in this case. IPCT lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont predicted that a win for Kashechkin would have “immediate and disastrous” consequences for cycling, suggesting that in such an event “we can close the shop.”

A decision is expected within two weeks. If Kashechkin’s side loses in Belgium, they will likely appeal the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.