Strasbourg - Wearing a red star - the maligned symbol of erstwhile communist rule - is a "basic human right" in Hungary, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday.

It said a ruling by a Hungarian court eight years ago convicting a 45-year-old representative of the leftist Workers' party at a Budapest rally violated freedom of expression.

The Strasbourg-based human rights court ruled that the state could restrict freedom of expression "within the framework of political discussion only in special, clearly-defined circumstances."

In this particular case, the politician had worn the red star clearly as a symbol of his political opinion.

Hungarian law forbids the wearing and exhibiting of so-called "symbols of the rule of force" such as the red star, hammer and sickle, or swastika.

The court said that although human rights violations under communism had discredited the red star, Hungary had proved over the past 20 years that it had become a stable democracy.

This meant there was no reason to fear any political party seeking to restore a communist dictatorship. (dpa)